The Quinnell School of Blacksmithing

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The Quinnell School of Blacksmithing

Inspirational blacksmithing courses for complete beginners. Our courses make an unforgettable gift Please contact us for further information.

The Quinnell School of Blacksmithing at Leatherhead, Surrey, run by Tom Quinnell, offers weekend blacksmithing courses for beginners, from 14 years old upwards, from spring to autumn; also suitable for those with some experience of forging who wish to improve. We also offer bespoke one-to-one or small group courses, tailored to meet your requirements and priced per hour. Our tutors are Max Anderso

n, Giles Clarke & Tom Quinnell; the weekend classes are limited to 8 students at a time. Our family blacksmithing business has been running since 1932 and we've been running courses and experiences for over 26 years now - over 1600 students have proved that spectacular achievement is the norm, with many students signing up for further courses, with some even becoming professional, full time blacksmiths! Comfortable bed, breakfast and evening meal accommodation is available locally for those living too far away to commute. For full details see our website www.blacksmithing-school.co.uk - or e-mail [email protected] ; or phone 01372-375148; or drop in to our Fire and Iron Gallery at Rowhurst Forge Oxshott Road Leatherhead Surrey KT22 0EN (do that anyway - it's spectacular too!) - www.fireandiron.co.uk

05/04/2026

Our brand new BBQ Tool Making Course is here!

Happy Easter everyone! We are properly into spring now, which means summer is just around the corner! The BBQ’s will be coming out, and you’ll need a beautiful set of hand-forged utensils to keep it sizzling… Our brand new BBQ tool making course will send you home with a spatula/burger flipper (with a bottle opener in the handle!), a BBQ fork and 4 x skewers - all of which you will have hand-forged yourself! You’ll also receive a QSB handmade suede tool roll, handmade in UK by (who make our awesome blacksmith aprons). There will also be a ‘part 2’ to this course, coming later, where you can expand your tool arsenal further.

This course also makes a great Father’s Day gift, with free gift-wrapped vouchers available with free postage. These courses are filling us fast: Visit our website to find out more and book a place!

12/02/2026

FIRE & IRON - THE QUINNELL SCHOOL OF BLACKSMITHING - DOING THEIR BIT FOR THE COMMUNITY!.
My year as High Sheriff certainly has provided variety and an introduction to many wonderful hidden treasures in Surrey; and my visit to the Rowhurst Forge in Leatherhead was another wonderful eye-opener.
There has been blacksmithing here since 1932, but it also is home to the oldest house in Surrey and sits atop a hill outside Leatherhead, on the site of an iron age fort!
Run by Lucy Quinnell and her son Tom, it combines being a working forge undertaking commissions and detailed projects with also running programmes for schools, one to one sessions for SEND young people and those with neurodivergence, as well as courses for members of the public. They are very keen to develop their offer to those furthest from employment and likely otherwise to become or remain NEET,
Their shop and museum has some very exquisite pieces and open to the public at certain times. Once my Shrieval year is over I will certainly look to sign up for one of their courses.

07/02/2026

Here it is - our long awaited blacksmithing club! Yesterday saw the first of our main group blacksmithing courses for 2026 take place, but it was also was the debut of ‘Hammer Time’, our brand new blacksmithing club! The club is for those who have attended courses with us in the past ,where they can come and utilise our facilities in a dedicated work area. You can work on your own projects, at your own pace, and are not under any instruction. We are of course here to supervise, offer support and give guidance, at all times. We have 4 workstations in the dedicated club area and it currently runs every other Friday between 9:30am and 5:30pm.
Embark on a large project spread over multiple sessions, make smaller items in a single session,or just tinker. You can find out more, view dates and book, all on our website.
If you have attended a 2-day course with us in the past, and fancy coming along to improve your skills while making an item of your own design, come and get involved!
Mike was celebrating his birthday yesterday, so carrot cake and candles were in order!

22/12/2025

Giving a blacksmithing course for Christmas isn’t just a gift — it’s an experience they’ll remember forever.

It’s hands-on, creative, and totally different from the usual presents. Instead of something that gets unwrapped and forgotten, you’re giving a new skill, the thrill of working with fire and steel, and the satisfaction of making something real with their own hands.

A blacksmithing course sparks confidence, creativity, and a deep appreciation for craftsmanship. It’s perfect for anyone who loves learning, trying something bold, or stepping away from screens to do something truly tangible. Plus, they don’t just leave with memories — they leave with something they’ve forged themselves.

This Christmas, give more than a gift.
Give fire, skill, and an unforgettable experience. 🔥⚒️

To book, visit www.blacksmithing-school.co.uk or call us on 01372 375148 today

20/12/2025

Finally got the tree up!
Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas 🎄🔥⚒️
We’re not finished yet though - we will be here right up to 5pm on Christmas Eve processing blacksmithing course gift vouchers, but also manning our . Pop over and say hi, and if you are looking to buy your loved once a blacksmithing course or experience day, we can process your order and gift-wrap your voucher while-you-wait. We can show you our workshops and teaching areas too!
🔥www. Blacksmithing-school.co.uk 🔥

18/12/2025

LAST CHANCE!… if you are looking to place an order for a blacksmithing course and receive a GIFT-WRAPPED VOUCHER by post - 5pm TODAY, is the cut-off to receive one in time for Christmas. We will of course, try our absolute best with orders placed after 5pm today. Once we have dispatched the voucher, your package will then be out of our control and in the care of Royal Mail on their Tracked 24 Service.

*** We can also hand-deliver gift-wrapped vouchers LOCALLY, for orders received right up until 3pm on Christmas Eve, OR, provide vouchers which can be emailed straight to you, so you can print at home. Vouchers sent via email can be provided for orders received right up until 11pm on Christmas Eve!

If you have any questions or queries, special requests, or are needing some advice, please do feel free to call Tom on 01372 375148 who would be more than happy to help.

Blacksmithing course vouchers can be placed online via our website (select during checkout) or by phone, by calling the number above.

Visit www.blacksmithing-school.co.uk 💪⚒️🔥

10/12/2025

On Friday we were joined by the awesome father & son duo, Karl and Tobias! …And boy did they work hard! ⚒️🔥💪 Although the sun was out, it was a very cold morning 🥶, but with the addition of some heavy bashing of red-hot iron, and with both forges in full flame, we were all nice and toasty.

They booked in for a private 1-2-1 session, and wanted to make a blacksmith-style knife, which they executed with precision. You both did amazingly well, creating superb hand-forged knives to take home with you. I hope you are both very proud of your achievements - you should be! See you again soon… 🔥🔥🔥

🔥 &Son ♥️ ❤️

03/12/2025

We had a great morning hosting 33 students from St. John’s School in Leatherhead. We can see their school from our hilltop forge, which prompted a discussion about: ancient Leatherhead; the iron ore running under our fortified Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Saxon site; and the part iron plays in our red blood, our red bricks and our red hair.

Giles demonstrated the 7 processes of blacksmithing, and then after a tour of Fire & Iron Gallery and Rowhurst house, and hot chocolate and biscuits to warm us all up, we went back to the demo arena to watch Giles pull all of the processes together in one beautiful ram’s head fire poker.

This was an impressive group of young people, and we love nothing more than fine inquiring minds asking brilliant questions! A question about scaling up tooling when making bigger work led to an impromptu bonus demo by Giles and Ben doing ‘smith and striker’ while Tom got our gorgeous old Pilkington powerhammer thumping red hot steel flat and making it all look easy.

w.clarke quinnell_artistblacksmith

⚒️🔥💪

27/11/2025

Have you just stumbled across the perfect Christmas gift for your loved one?! …or do you fancy having a go yourself? ⚒️🔥💪

We are one of the leading blacksmithing course providers in the country, offering high quality 1 & 2-day recreational courses for beginners. Led by our well qualified and very experienced team, become immersed in a fascinating, red-hot experience that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Book online now by visiting our website: 🔥www.blacksmithing-school.co.uk🔥 or by calling us on ⚒️01372 375148⚒️. Beautifully wrapped gift vouchers are provided with every order, free, posted to you via Royal Mail.

We offer a wide range of courses to suit every interest — from BBQ tool sets or blacksmith’s knife making, to more traditional blacksmithing that focuses on processes, as well as creative courses designed to inspire and draw out your artistic side.

Come away with amazing memories and a handful of items you have made yourself and keep forever!

Visit our website to find out more, or give us a call!

&IronGallery

17/09/2025

…and we’re off! Great first day of our Heritage Open Days 2025 participation today - it was lovely to meet so many people and to talk all things blacksmithing with them. The house is open again (its 31st Heritage Open Days year!) and so is the Fire & Iron forge and the teaching area (both of which are not normally open to the public). Three more days to go: Thursday 11-4; Friday 11-4 and Saturday 11-4. Come and see live demonstrations of this elemental heritage craft, and look inside one of the country’s oldest houses while you’re here (and of course, our !).
Today we had demonstrating, and tomorrow he will be joined by .quinnell_artistblacksmith. On Friday and Saturday there will be 5 blacksmiths forging, so please do come and soak up the atmosphere!

16/09/2025

We couldn’t have asked more of our dynamic and very impressive team of volunteers for the BABA children’s forging event in Stroud: Clare Collier, Ben Pusey, Bisk Blaszkowski and Freddie Gleeson. They gave up several days of their time to make this work, and they were all absolutely brilliant with the young people all day every day. A huge, huge ‘thank you’ to them from us (Tom and Lucy) for all their hard work. Thanks, too, to our Fire & Iron team for keeping the home fires burning so that we could escape - thanks Cathy, David, Adam and George.

quinnell_artistblacksmith quinnell.art

Address

Rowhurst Forge, Oxshott Road
Leatherhead
KT220EG

Telephone

+441372375148

Website

http://www.blacksmithing-school.co.uk/

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