Crafta Webb
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Working with the communities of Bredwardine, Staunton on Wye and Letton over a 2-year period, Rural Media embarked on an ambitious community film project to shed light on a mysterious part of Herefordshire’s heritage the 'lost village' of Crafta Webb.
To make a film, however short or on whatever scale, is a good way of investigating a past event, a place, a contemporary issue, or just a narrative with conflicting characters. The process forces you to ask questions and find the answers through research. It means that you see the world through a stranger's eyes and maybe find a new perspective on familiar territory.
At various times nicknamed Hyde Park Corner, New Town and Poverty Street, the origin, history and demise of Crafta Webb is a mystery.
This “lost village” once home to 60 people was rumoured to owe its origins to the “one night house”, when it’s said, erecting a chimney and smoking it by dawn meant you could claim rights. Whether local folklore or not, Crafta Webbs’ residents lived a very precarious life high on Bredwardine Hill in Herefordshire, their lives and occupations shaped by the landscape they lived in.
The project had several key outputs:
A short film drama built on research, archaeology and discussion about the Crafta Webb settlement, which members of the local community would help research, devise, write, crew and perform.
A practical media training programme and equipment resource for members of the community, training them in the use of Mini DV cameras and digital editing in order to facilitate their own documentaries.
A Crafta Webb animation project with a local primary school
A book with interviews, maps and photographs
