Bristol, R.I. – As we enter August, Coggeshall Farm Museum still has plenty of summer programming planned for guests of all ages. Over the next two months, Coggeshall, in partnership with Old Sturbridge Village, will be offering themed weekend events that recreate the experience of 18th-century tenant farmers on a salt marsh farm through live music, art, interpretation, historic structures, heirloom plants, crafts, and heritage-breed animals.
Coggeshall's site will come alive with music, dancing, and art on August 7 & 8. Saturday, staff, and volunteers from Old Sturbridge Village will showcase how music and art enhanced people's daily lives in the 18th century. Guests will get a look at coastal music traditions, how nature is interpreted through art, and have a chance to practice skills and find crafts to take home. Sunday, the music will shift to fife & drum tradition. In addition, guests can tour the farm and learn how tenant farmers lived every day by raising animals, tending fields, and cultivating their gardens.
How did Americans make their clothing before the American Industrial Revolution? Learn about pre-industrial textiles at Coggeshall Farm Museum on August 28 & 29. Costumed historians from Coggeshall and Old Sturbridge Village will demonstrate the historical way of making clothing from start to finish. Guests will see historic wool picking and carding, dyeing, spinning, weaving, and sewing. Visitors will also get to try a sheep craft of their own and receive a take-home loom kit for practicing after their visit.
Autumn in New England is a particularly busy time, especially for agriculture. Coggeshall’s Agriculture Weekend September 4 & 5 will kick off the celebration with a fall garden harvest and animals. Coggeshall and Old Sturbridge Village costumed historians will demonstrate how livestock on an 18th-century farm was not only crucial to historic foodways but critical to the success of the farm as a whole. Coggeshall's farm partner, Gnarly Vines Farm, will be on-site to discuss the difference between historic and modern agriculture practices. Guests will get up close and personal with some of the animals. In addition, Coggeshall will showcase their heritage breeds.
Blacksmithing and woodworking were critical to an 18th-century farm family. On September 18 & 19, costumed artisans from Old Sturbridge Village will be at Coggeshall Farm Museum demonstrating blacksmithing, woodworking, and tinsmithing. Visitors will learn what tools were critical to the success of a farm family, how they were made, and even try their hand at working with them in the 18th-century garden. As with all Coggeshall's themed weekends, there will be a craft available on-site that guests can make to take home.
Adults are $10 each, and up to 3 kids are admitted for free per adult, paying the full price through Labor Day. Additional youth are $5. Coggeshall Farm Museum members and Old Sturbridge Village members get in for free.
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