New Ashgate Gallery

17/10/2026

There is not a long to go! The Lantern Festival is one of the highlights of the Craft Month

Farnham Craft Town

There’s not long to go until Farnham Lantern Festival 2026 and this year’s parade route is bigger than ever! ✨

🗺️ Starting at Gostrey Meadow, the procession will travel along Union Road, up South Street to The Borough, down into Downing Street and along Upper Church Lane, finishing at St Andrew’s Church.

To accommodate the parade, a temporary road closure will be in place on Thursday 29th October from 6pm until 7pm so anybody travelling into Farnham by car should allow extra time for their journey.

Lantern kits are available to purchase from the Farnham Town Council offices on South Street (Monday-Friday, 10am-4.30pm) for £6 each 🍂

15/10/2026

A little virtual tour teaser from New Ashgate Gallery! Here's a glimpse of what's waiting to be discovered in our autumn exhibitions.

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=ZWZPemNZVep&back=1

Surrey Artist of the Year 2026 brings together 17 talented artists:

Kate Alger, Jane Alexander, Sophie Brogden, Becca Clegg, Sarah Cox, Diana Croft, Jennifer Dalcie, Stephanie Draper, Lorelei Hopkins, Liane Matthews, Amy Mears, Fiona Millais, Jane Silk, Artan Jahaj (AJ Studio), Jean Tolkovsky, Chantelle Watson and Shirley Watson.

Also on show:

Hilary Peat: Surrey Artist of the Year 2025 – One Year On – landscape-inspired ceramics and wall-based work.

Hayley Emma Studio: Contemporary Handwoven Textiles – striking colours, textures and contemporary handweaving.

Craft Collection 2026 – beautiful handmade ceramics, glass, jewellery, textiles and wood.

This is just a teaser. Come and discover the full exhibitions at New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham.

Free admission.

15/10/2026

We ❤️ the creativity of Farnham!

12/10/2026

Keeping heritage craft in use at New Ashgate 🧵

Free workshops, makers’ films and exhibitions have brought traditional skills to new audiences throughout 2026. As Farnham celebrates Craft Month, there’s more to come this autumn and winter, including hurdle making, rush weaving and our Winter Art and Craft Exhibition.

Read our latest newsletter to discover the projects, people and upcoming activities: https://mailchi.mp/8bc56c473c42/heritagecrafts

Farnham Craft Town Heritage Crafts

Photo: Natalie Sharomova

12/10/2026

Thank you Make It Farnham

At the heart of Farnham's creative community, New Ashgate Gallery champions contemporary craft and visual arts through exhibitions, events and community projects.

The gallery is also behind Craft Your Year 2026, a free programme of hands-on workshops taking place throughout the year, giving people of all ages the opportunity to discover new skills and explore both traditional and contemporary crafts.

This October Craft Month, we're proud to celebrate the gallery's ongoing contribution to Farnham's thriving creative community.

11/10/2026

Congratulations to Clover Lee – New Ashgate Gallery's Festival of Crafts Award Winner!

We are delighted to announce that Clover Lee, exhibiting with Design-Nation at Farnham's Festival of Crafts, has been selected for the New Ashgate Gallery Award 2026!

The award offers Clover a solo exhibition at New Ashgate Gallery in 2027, giving her the opportunity to showcase her work to new audiences and take the next step in her creative career.

At New Ashgate Gallery, we are passionate about recognising and supporting exceptional early-career talent. We believe that outstanding emerging makers deserve opportunities to develop their practice, build their reputation and reach new audiences.

A special thank you to Bronwen Robinson from our gallery team, who selected Clover for the award.

Our thanks to Farnham Maltings for a wonderful anniversary edition of the Festival of Crafts, and to Design-Nation for its commitment to supporting contemporary makers.

Congratulations, Clover! We cannot wait to share your work with our visitors in 2027.

11/10/2026

Meet Surrey Artist of the Year 2026 finalist Sarah Cox.

Sarah’s landscape paintings are filled with colour, texture and energetic mark-making.

Responding to the changing seasons, she uses gestural lines and layered surfaces to explore the meeting point between the character of the landscape and the physical qualities of paint.
Alongside her studio practice, Sarah works as a secondary school art teacher.

Discover Sarah’s work at New Ashgate Gallery and cast your vote for Surrey Artist of the Year by noon on 23 October.

12 September – 7 November 2026
New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham


SAOY 2026 is organised by New Ashgate Gallery with Surrey Artists Open Studios and supported by the Patricia Baines Trust. Media partner: Guildford, Farnham, Woking & Surrey Downs Magazines. With thanks to DAiSY and The Bulb Shed.

10/10/2026

One of the best things about working at New Ashgate Gallery? Supporting the next generation of creative talent!

We loved welcoming second-year students from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) to the gallery this week!

Supporting artists at the start of their careers is one of our favourite parts of what we do. Through our Early Career Pathways, we help young talent build confidence, develop professional skills and explore opportunities in the creative industries.

A big thank you to the UCA students for visiting. We can't wait to see what you do next!