David Parr House

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David Parr House House, Gallery & Shop 🪑
House: Thurs–Sat, book timed entry
Gallery & Shop: Wed–Sat, 10 am–5 pm
📍 184 Gwydir Street, Cambridge

The charity has been set up to advance the arts, crafts, designs, ideas, values and heritage that are encompassed in the David Parr House.

From rags to rag rugs 🧶✨Get stuck in with Lu Mason Lu Mason this Saturday, 16 October for The Art of the Rag Rug.Immerse...
13/10/2026

From rags to rag rugs 🧶✨

Get stuck in with Lu Mason Lu Mason this Saturday, 16 October for The Art of the Rag Rug.

Immerse yourself in everything rag rug, from fabrics, techniques and design ideas to the fascinating history of this traditional craft in both the UK and the USA. Learn from the best as Lu shares her knowledge, experience and passion for rag rug making.

✨ What to expect

A small, friendly group of just 8 participants, a glimpse inside the house during the lunch break for inspiration, and a delicious light lunch from Norfolk Street Bakery. No previous experience required.

🧵 About Lu Mason

Lu began her rag rug journey in 1981 after moving to York, learning techniques from local makers and studying examples at the Castle Museum. After training and working as an Occupational Therapist, she returned to rag rug making during lockdown, rekindling her passion for the craft.

Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show, Bedford Higgins Museum, Yorkshire Arboretum and other venues across the UK. Lu now shares a studio in York with fellow artists, continuing to explore the possibilities of rag rug making.

Book your place and find out more via our website — link in bio 🔗

A little reminder to slow down 🐌Margaret Calvert’s 20mph (2023),takes a familiar road sign and gives it a playful twist....
09/10/2026

A little reminder to slow down 🐌

Margaret Calvert’s 20mph (2023),takes a familiar road sign and gives it a playful twist. Made at full scale using the retroreflective material found on UK roads, its bright, unexpected colours replace the usual road-sign palette.

Calvert is best known for developing Britain’s road sign system alongside Jock Kinneir. Together, they created the Transport and Motorway typefaces, pictograms and colour system that still shape how we navigate Britain’s roads today. 20mph draws on this familiar visual language but gives it a different purpose.

The work is part of Calvert’s ‘Play’ projects, personal works made for herself rather than for a client.
While a 20mph sign usually tells drivers how fast they can go, Calvert’s version offers a gentler invitation to slow down and take your time.

Now in David Parr House as part of Moving Stories, the word is a reminder to slow down and consider the work of David Parr, who spent four decades decorating his house in his own time, alongside his professional work for F.R. Leach & Sons. For both artists, personal projects offered space to experiment beyond the demands of commissioned work.

See 20mph as part of House Guests: Moving Stories at David Parr House, open until 9 January 2027.

Thanks to Liminal Gallery & Margaret Calvert

We have a feeling these new arrivals to the shop have been curated for one very specific person. Maybe you know them. Ma...
08/10/2026

We have a feeling these new arrivals to the shop have been curated for one very specific person. Maybe you know them. Maybe it’s you.

They rescue every last smear of tahini from the jar. They have strong opinions about endings. Their allotment is 90% cabbages. Their wardrobe is somewhere between moss and cobalt. Their dream is to set up a donkey sanctuary.

Do you know them?
https://shop.davidparrhouse.org/

New in the shop:
🥄 Jar spatula by Michael Marriott, designed to fit into the bottom, sides and neck of most jars

📖 Catalogue of Endings: How to End Things by Martin Jenča and Katarína Poliačiková, a collection of 148 imaginative endings drawn from art, film, pop culture, memory and philosophy

🥬 Cabbages letterpress card by The Passenger Press, printed in small batches on an antique press
using UK-milled, ecologically sound paper

🧣 Cobalt and moss striped lambswool neck scarf by Sally Nencini, handmade in the UK from 100%
lambswool

🫏 Playful ceramic ornaments by Newcastle-based illustrator and ceramicist Alex Sickling, inspired by folklore, social movements and nature

Find all of our new arrivals and more new arrivals in the David Parr House Shop online and in store Wednesday-Saturday, 10-5pm

Meet our next House Guest…We are delighted to welcome ceramic works by Katharina Klug Katharina Klug made during her 202...
07/10/2026

Meet our next House Guest…

We are delighted to welcome ceramic works by Katharina Klug Katharina Klug made during her 2026 residency at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan to 186 Gwydir Street.

Working with local Shigaraki clay and firing in a gas kiln for the first time, Klug took inspiration from the landscape around her while on residency in Japan earlier this year, drawing on details of bamboo, grasses, trees and hillside fauna. Back in Cambridge, the vessels have found their way into different rooms at David Parr House.

The works bring two landscapes into conversation: the Japanese landscape Klug encountered during her residency and the house and garden here at David Parr House.

House Guests: Moving Stories is open until 9 January 2027.

Katharina Klug is a ceramic artist based in Cambri Born in Austria, she grew up in her mother’s pottery business and established her own studio in Cambridge in 2011.

Discover the work of Walter Hoyle and shop the exhibition, with works on display available to purchase ✨Come along to th...
06/10/2026

Discover the work of Walter Hoyle and shop the exhibition, with works on display available to purchase ✨

Come along to the exhibition and find out more about Hoyle’s career and his approach to printmaking.

In the shop, you can also pick up a copy of Walter Hoyle: A Versatile Artist, which tells the story of his career and includes his own account of life in Great Bardfield, alongside postcards featuring works from the exhibition including Still Life with Camus, Interior Ely Cathedral and Cambridge.

We’re also stocking Denise Hoyle: An Artist at Her Kitchen Table, a fully illustrated book exploring the life and work of Walter’s wife Denise and the collages she made at their home in Essex.

For those keen to find out more about the works available to purchase, join Emma Mason of Emma Mason Gallery on 4 November for a free late-night viewing of the exhibition.

The evening will be a chance to look around the exhibition, hear more about Hoyle’s work and enjoy a glass of w**e. Book now via the link in our bio.

Walter Hoyle: A Restless Practice is open Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm until 9 January 2027

Make your own pendant with Rebecca Ilett 🍂Inspired by the patterns, shapes and textures found throughout David Parr Hous...
02/10/2026

Make your own pendant with Rebecca Ilett 🍂

Inspired by the patterns, shapes and textures found throughout David Parr House, join jewellery artist Rebecca Ilett Rebecca Ilett Jewellery on Saturday 10 October to make your own mixed-metal pendant.

You’ll explore traditional jewellery-making techniques including cutting metal with a piercing saw, annealing, soldering, shaping, filing and finishing. You can also add texture and pattern using hammers and punches before making a jump ring or bail and polishing your finished piece ready to wear.

Work with brass, copper, silver and gilding metal and develop your own design, taking inspiration from the house, its decorative details or the season outside.

The workshop is suitable for beginners as well as those with some jewellery-making experience, with a small group of 8 participants and plenty of individual guidance. Lunch from Norfolk Street Bakery included.

Book your place via the link in our bio.

House Guests: Moving Stories opens today 💫Bringing together contemporary artists, designers and makers, Moving Stories e...
01/10/2026

House Guests: Moving Stories opens today 💫

Bringing together contemporary artists, designers and makers, Moving Stories explores journeys in all their forms – the paths people take, the places they leave, the destinations they seek and the traces they leave behind.

The fourth edition of David Parr House’s annual House Guests programme, Moving Stories brings new work into dialogue with the house, its decorative interiors, multi-generational stories and the furniture, furnishings and belongings of the family who lived here.

The theme gathers around three questions: Where have we come from? Where are we going? What do we carry with us?

This year, the exhibition takes a new shape. Rather than opening all at once, the works will arrive one by one throughout October, each settling into the house in its own time. The exhibition will gradually change as new guests join, creating new conversations between contemporary work and David Parr’s original painted schemes.

The first guest has now arrived: Sabine Kaner Sabine Kaner’s When The Boat Comes In. Beginning with the Windrush scandal and the discovery that Kaner’s father travelled to Britain on the first Windrush ship in 1948, the work explores arrival, family, belonging and the things we carry with us.

Keep tuned here and on Bloomberg Connects to follow the exhibition as each new work arrives.

Moving Stories is on view until 9 January 2027. Entry is included with a House Visit ticket.

House Guests: Moving Stories opens today 💫Bringing together contemporary artists, designers and makers, Moving Stories e...
01/10/2026

House Guests: Moving Stories opens today 💫

Bringing together contemporary artists, designers and makers, Moving Stories explores journeys in all their forms – the paths people take, the places they leave, the destinations they seek and the traces they leave behind.

The fourth edition of David Parr House’s annual House Guests programme, Moving Stories brings new work into dialogue with the house, its decorative interiors, multi-generational stories and the furniture, furnishings and belongings of the family who lived here.

The theme gathers around three questions: Where have we come from? Where are we going? What do we carry with us?

This year, the exhibition takes a new shape. Rather than opening all at once, the works will arrive one by one throughout October, each settling into the house in its own time. The exhibition will gradually change as new guests join, creating new conversations between contemporary work and David Parr’s original painted schemes.

The first guest has now arrived: Sabine Kaner Sabine Kaner’s When The Boat Comes In. Beginning with the Windrush scandal and the discovery that Kaner’s father travelled to Britain on the first Windrush ship in 1948, the work explores arrival, family, belonging and the things we carry with us.

Keep tuned here and on Bloomberg Connects to follow the exhibition as each new work arrives.
Moving Stories is on view until 9 January 2027. Entry is included with a House Visit ticket.

Extended guided tours ✨ From November, our guided tours will run twice a day at 11.30am and 3pm.Step inside and discover...
30/09/2026

Extended guided tours ✨ From November, our guided tours will run twice a day at 11.30am and 3pm.

Step inside and discover the story behind the house with one of our guided tours. Explore David Parr’s decorative work, family life and memories, brought to life through archival photographs and audio recordings.

With just six guests per tour, you’ll have the chance to experience this historic home in a personal and intimate way, while hearing the stories behind the details that make it so special.

Your visit lasts approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, including time to explore the gardens, browse the shop and our archive area.

For those who’ve been waiting for an afternoon option, 3pm guided tours are now available to book from November onwards.

Come and discover the stories held within the house.

Address

186 Gwydir Street
Cambridge
CB12LW

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