We’re delighted to be collaborating with a group of local queer artists who have come together to lead a festive, half-day promenade event with storytelling, dance and music.

With art, artists and taking part at its heart, BENTWOOD platforms the rural queer experience, inviting people from all walks of life to celebrate together.

Get dressed up in your finest folky gear and join us at Ashburton recreation ground, where our afternoon starts with a folk dance procession workshop by performance artist, Bronwen Wilson Rashad which will eventually wind its way through the back streets of Ashburton to Rafikis cafe. Once gathered, we’ll cross the road to St. Lawrence Chapel where Anders Duckworth will, through masquerade and dance, delve into our collective psyches and our relationship to the shapeshifting queer power of the crow. Following this are some tantalising folk tales, told by beloved Dartmoor storyteller Henry Everett before Fionn Cox-Davies shares his album of ‘rip your guts out’ contemporary folk. Finally, we are back to Rafikis for drinks and dancing with funk/soul/disco beats from Penzance fav. DJ Kyra Norman.

Tickets:

£15  - standard ticket

£25 - all out artist support

£7.50 - we’ve priced our tickets to offer excellent value, but if you find it unaffordable, go for this one. (limited amount)

Tickets available HERE. If you can’t come and still want to support this new queer rural annual event, you can donate here!

All the info. you could possibly need will be sent out via email closer to the date including: timings, maps, parking, food & drink and what to wear!

Access: Rafikis and St Lawrence Chapel are fully accessible but please inform us in advance if you need disabled access

More about the artists leading this event:

Join us at Field System for an evening of frank, open, and community-driven discussion centered on navigating the art world. 

Chaired by renowned writer and curator Hettie Judah, this event marks the launch of her new book: How to Enter the Art World after a late start, a first career, illness, raising children, a crisis of confidence, or leaving it in disgust....

The evening will begin with short presentations from four artists within the Field System community. They will share their current projects while reflecting on their own journeys and what "success in the art world" means to them today. Following the presentations, we will move into a circle; sitting together as peers, Hettie will lead an open Q&A for all. Whether you need professional advice, insight into the industry, or want to discuss the realities of a creative life, we encourage you to speak frankly and participate in the circle.

At the end of the evening, Hettie will be selling and signing copies of her new book.

The Panel

• Hettie Judah (Chair): A leading critic, columnist, and advocate for artists’ rights. She is the author of several books on art and the curator of the acclaimed exhibition Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, as well as a well-known broadcaster.

• Libby Bove: A multi-disciplinary artist and folklorist whose "Museum of Roadside Magic" reimagines ancient traditions through ceramics, textiles, and mechanical settings.

• Anna Holm: A Scottish painter based in Devon whose work explores personal narratives of othering, isolation, and the absence of roots from a care-experienced background.

• Mark Jessett: Abstract artist and co-founder of Field System and N.E.W. Inspired by stories and folklore, his work manipulates color and translucency through the delicate layering of acrylics on paper.

• Monica-Shanta: A multidisciplinary artist blending Western and Asian influences through digital film and installation to explore cultural identity and universal human experiences.

About the Book

"Vital guidance for all artists. Empowering, encouraging and enlightening." — Robert Diament, Talk Art

How to Enter the Art World is a myth-busting, "grown-up" guide for any artist whose life is complicated and human. Informed by dozens of candid interviews, it offers inspiration for those who didn't go to art school or those trying to find their way back after years away.

Tickets available HERE

• Standard Ticket: £15

• Supported Rate: £5 (A limited number of reduced-rate tickets are available for those on a low income. No proof is required. If you need a free ticket email us on info@fieldsystem.co.uk)

*Space is limited for this intimate circle discussion. Early booking is highly recommended.

Dr Martin Shaw will be bringing a brand new series of original drawings to Field System on Friday 1st May for our celebration of Beltane. In these works you will meet some of the myths, people and animals that have long kept pace with him as he has traversed Dartmoor. Created on his return to the moor after the publication tour for Liturgies of the Wild, each work reflects a renewed closeness to that landscape, it's myths and mysterious characters.

Martin explains, “Palsh is an old Devon expression for taking a long, dreamlike wander. A kind of visionary stroll. I travel a great deal to teach, and when I return I sink back into a kind of ongoing Palsh. Since a kid I've loved the inebriation of both Dartmoor folktale and landscape, and for over fifty years I've dwelt in both. These drawings gradually float up from this kind of awareness. I'm not entirely sure who these characters always are, but I welcome them in.”

Join us on Sunday, May 3rd at Field System for a free ‘Meet the Artist’ event. Following his talk at Ashburton Arts Centre, Martin will be available to discuss his work, sign books, and meet with our guests in an informal atmosphere. No booking required—just turn up.

Dr Martin Shaw is a writer, mythographer and Christian thinker, and the author of seventeen books. He is a visiting member of Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity and a fellow of the Temenos Academy. He founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University and directs the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK. For over thirty years, he has worked as a wilderness rites-of-passage guide.

This event is part of Dartmoor Tors Festival 2026

Crowmancrow (AKA Ethan Pennell) will present a brand new illustrated talk on the weird and wonderful folklore of Dartmoor’s tors and associated phenomena. Expect tales of UFOs, Ley Lines, Alien Big Cats, a talking hare, killer ravens, King Arthur, ghostly encounters, witchcraft, giants, the Devil, pixies and other otherworldly beings.

Tickets are only £5 and available HERE!

Crowmancrow is a Plymouth-based artist and writer whose practice draws upon environmental issues, folklore and the occult. He is particularly inspired — and frequently haunted — by the eldritch tales of Dartmoor, his local stomping ground.

No Field System celebration of Beltane is complete without Grimspound Border Morris. They’ve joined us every year for May Day — and this year they’ll be joined by Newton Bushel Morris, Valiant Mummers, and Crownmancrow, author of the Dartmoor Folklore Map!

Our afternoon starts at 3.30pm with a short May Day mummers’ play by The Valiant Mummers inside Field System (free but limited spaces), followed by glorious Border and Cotswold Morris dancing outside the shop at 4pm. See below for more on the folk who’ll be entertaining you.

After the dancing (and maybe a drink and a pizza next next door at Pizza Amore!), sit down with folklorist and storyteller Crowmancrow at 5.30pm for some weird and wonderful tales of tors and the moor. Expect brand new tellings of stories about UFOs, faeries, ley lines, alien big cats!

Mumming and Morris is, as usual, free! Tickets to the talk are just £5 and can be found HERE.

On the Beltane bill..

Grimspound Border Morris are a Border Morris side named after the ancient settlement on Dartmoor beneath Hameldown Tor. Formed in 1994 as an all-male side, Grimspound has since opened its doors to all genders and adopted a more light-footed approach (plus a stray dancing bear!), doing their best not to take themselves too seriously. They have a large repertoire of original dances.

Founded in 1972, Newton Bushel Morris is a mixed Cotswold side from South Devon. Their ethos is to have fun and enjoy dancing outside in beautiful places. They have a broad repertoire of over 30 dances from nine different traditions — and they’re joined by a naughty, bum-pecking dancing seagull!

Crowmancrow (AKA Ethan Pennell) is a Plymouth-based artist and writer whose practice draws upon environmental issues, folklore and the occult. He is particularly inspired — and frequently haunted — by the eldritch tales of Dartmoor, his local stomping ground.

At this stage we know nothing about The Valiant Mummers… which might be the best way to keep it!

This event is part of Dartmoor Tors Festival 2026

Join folklorist and storyteller Helen JR Bruce for a guided walk through the Dartmoor landscape of legend. Taking in Hound Tor, the ruined medieval village and nearby Bowerman's Nose, Helen will be exploring Black Dog folklore in some of the exact places which inspired the tales. 

Having researched Black Dog folklore for almost 20 years, Helen has traced the evolution of these stories from origins in the pagan Wild Hunt, through Christian influenced retellings of Hellhounds, all the way through to modern interpretations as omens and spirit guides. The folkloric ancestry of the dog is tangled with humans as far back as 12,000 years ago, with black dogs becoming a powerful archetype that, across many cultures and mythic systems, is believed to be able to cross between this world and the otherworld. As we will learn, black dogs not only accompany Dewer, Old Crockern and the Dark Huntsman, they are also a form that cursed human souls can take.

Sometimes a guide and protector, sometimes an omen of death, the folklore around Black Dogs is as fluid and shapeshifting as the creatures themselves, readily melting and reforming like Dartmoor mist. But their presence in myth is enduring, the silhouette of the spectral hound a symbol held deep within the human psyche and a motif that returns in folktales again and again. You will leave this walk with a deeper knowledge of the legendary Dartmoor hounds in the context of their kin in folklore across the country.

Tickets are just £13! Get them HERE .

*This event is a fundraiser for Field System as Helen is waiving her fee - thank you Helen!

Meet at Hound Tor car park at 10.45 am for an 11.00am start! 8+ (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult). Dogs on leads please. This event is part of Dartmoor Tors Festival 2026

Field System presents an evening of May Day revels, beginning with a short film presentation by Stone Club and culminating in the raucous, dark folk of Craven. Join us for some wonderful and weird live music and visuals to mark that, indeed, Sumer Is Icumen In!

Stone Club’s featurette is a fantastical exploration of the Cornish landscape, myth and magic. The film is accompanied by music by Matthew Shaw, weaving place, folklore and sound into a dreamlike ritual of image and noise.

Craven are an English / Welsh folk trio based in the South West. Their music is at once symphonic, delicate and ethereal — a beautiful Frankenstein’s Monster of British folk. Featuring Will Bremner (accordion), Elian Moisey (double bass, viol), and Rhiannon Takel (violin, mandola), the trio conjure rich, layered soundscapes through an inventive live setup - from stomp boxes to foot-keyed harmonium and pedal-driven percussion. Their fearless, imaginative approach to folk lies at the core of their sound, fuelling vivid, visceral storytelling. You can see them performing HERE at the Greenbank Folk Club in Bristol with FS friends Goblin band!

Tickets from just £10! Get them HERE

This event is part of Dartmoor Tors Festival 2026

As it draws to a close, celebrate the Other Landscapes exhibition with us.

Join us for a special Sunday morning opening at Field System to mark the final days of this exhibition by Dougal Kirkland and Corrina Spencer. This is a special opportunity to talk informally to artists and uncover the themes of their work and the processes they use.

Additionally, Dougal Kirkland will perform a reading of his new written work, ‘Emergence.’

Recently, writing has become a vital extension of Dougal’s visual practice; this piece centers on the Lindow Man—a famous bog body—and weaves together archaeology, ecology, and folklore. Through the lens of the British boglands, landscapes that are neither land nor water, Dougal explores these liminal spaces as powerful sites for queer history and queer ecological thinking.

The event runs from 11.30am-12.30pm in the Field System Gallery, we will be opening our doors at 11am if you haven't had a chance to see the exhibition yet. Feel free to bring your morning coffee, or we can make you a cup of tea if you like.

Free, no need to book, just drop in!

This workshop with Levannah Morgan, based on her book A Witch’s Year, explores the magic of April, the month of blossom and of the magic of birds, when the spirit world is all around us. We will explore the lore and magic of the Hawthorn tree, the Faerie tree that can lead us into encounters with the spirits of the land, and learn about the old witch’s practice of “sitting out”. You will meet the spirits of air and light, make flying magic and learn how to attract the spirits of light into your home. Practical activities will include the making of a Witch’s Ladder, a very traditional charm for this time of year, and in a mediational journey the Hawthorn tree will show is the way to Faerie.

NO prior magical or practical crafting experience is necessary for this workshop, all materials are supplied and you will take home the charm you choose to make.

Levannah Morgan has been a practising witch for more than 30 years. She has run Pagan conferences and taught workshops for many years and trains students in witchcraft and the mysteries of the goddess and gods. She founded the Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft, is a former vice president of the Pagan Federation and is active in several Pagan and witchcraft organisations. She works as an artist and filmmaker. She is the author of A Witch’s Year (Robert Hale, 2025), A Sea Witch’s Companion (Robert Hale, 2022) and A Witch’s Mirror (The Universe Machine, 2021).

Tickets just £24 plus a small booking fee for a 3 hours workshop, but spaced limited, book HERE!

We’re a step-free venue, but if you have any questions about access or need support with ticket costs, please get in touch.

Join us at Things Happen Here in Dartington, Totnes for a very special night. Boss Morris kick off the evening, dancing accompanied live by Nick Hart and Tom Moore. After a short interval, Hart and Moore return to the stage with a full set of their own. Tickets now available HERE

Nick Hart and Tom Moore are an English folk duo whose acclaimed debut album The Colour of Amber (2023) offers vivid interpretations of traditional songs and tunes. Combining Hart’s tenor viol and distinctive vocals with Moore’s expressive viola, alongside drones and bass from an antique church harmonium, they create an intimate yet richly textured sound rooted in tradition.

Both are highly respected figures in the folk world. Nick is an award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, described by Tradfolk as “probably the finest interpreter of traditional English folk songs this generation has produced.” Tom is a violist, fiddle player and guitarist whose playing has been praised as “ingenious” (The Guardian) and “irresistible” (The Independent). Long-time collaborators, Hart and Moore have worked together for over a decade, including across all three of Nick’s solo albums, and continue to refine a deeply shared musical language.
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Founded in 2015, Boss Morris is a group of female creatives supported by professional musicians who share an artistic and progressive vision of morris dancing as a means to increase interest in this ancient folk dance. They utilise their creativity to reimagine a modern vision of tradition, through their performance, costume and beasts, while actively rejecting themes of nationalistic values. Boss Morris always have fun!

***Get tickets HERE!***

(Standard tickets are £18 in advance, if available on-the-night tickets are £20)
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Reviews for Nick Hart and Tom Moore
“Whatever these two turn their hands to turns to gold. The Colour of Amber stands as one of 2023’s finest traditional folk albums.” — Tradfolk

“A stately beauty… simple, yet utterly engaging. Nick and Tom bring familiar favourites vividly to life.” — At The Barrier

“A shining example of the best in fusion and musical progression… absorbing and thoughtful” — Spiral Earth

“This debut stands head and shoulders above almost any other English traditional album of recent years.” — KLOF Magazine

Join James Richardson of Angel Heart Theatre for an evening of Dartmoor stories shaped by 46 years of living on its wild edge. Moving there as a 12-year-old in 1979, James grew up among some of the last locals of an older Dartmoor, whose knowledge, humour and hard-won wisdom left a lifelong mark.

His working years as a tree-planter and dry-stone waller took him deep into the landscape through harsh winters and long, quiet days outdoors, forming a bond with the land that he now considers his spiritual home. A recent five-day journey into the heart of the Moor’s ancient oak woods adds a new chapter to this relationship.

Through spoken-word readings, haiku, curious found objects and and colourful puppetry James will tell his tales. A puppeteer since 1999 and co-author of The High Oak and This Ragged Edge, he is currently writing a collection of short stories set on Dartmoor.

We are delighted to be hosting this event next door at the Ashburton Arts Centre, just next door! Tickets available HERE.

Celebrate Eostre / Ostara and Mother’s Day with a creative afternoon at Field System. Guided by Ruth from Studio Rua, you’ll learn to model a pendant in wax, which will then be cast in metal off site after the workshop. You will be creating the design using the ancient technique of lost wax casting, which is what Ruth uses to make all her jewellery. Learn to design and sculpt your own pendant inspired by the season of renewal.

Using soft, malleable wax, you’ll create a unique form to be cast in bronze or silver and returned as a finished necklace on a gold-filled or silver chain. Ruth will share techniques for intuitive making and taking impressions from natural objects.

No experience needed — just curiosity and creativity.
All materials provided (bring an apron if you wish).
Please allow around 3 weeks for your cast pendant to arrive in bronze and 4-5 for silver.

Sorry. This event is SOLD OUT

Join artist Becky Dodman Wainwright as she unpacks the thinking and processes behind her new solo exhibition, The Weavers Cup - Tea to Chumbe. This is a free event so no need to book, just turn up. After a talk in the gallery, Becky will be available for questions and discussions until 1pm.

The Weavers Cup - Tea to Chumbe exhibition explores folk and personal heritage through an expanded lens, weaving together Becky’s life in Devon, and her ancestral roots in the Andes. Her large-scale tapestries, created from local wool, are inspired by ‘tasseography’, the interpretation of patterns discovered in tea leaf readings which transform everyday forms into significant designs and motifs. This practice grounds her work in Devon while connecting to her Colombian Indigenous ancestry, particularly the sacred symbols of Chumbe belts, traditional sashes worn by Andean shamans.

This workshop with Levannah Morgan, based on her book, A Witch’s Year, will explore the magic of spring as the light returns. March is the month of the Spring Equinox, when the balance between dark and light turns. You will learn how to celebrate this often overlooked but vital time of change in the Witch’s Year, when the young sun grows in strength and power and growth. As with all Levannah’s workshops, there will be practical projects and things to make. We will work with the magic of hares and primroses, learn about the witch’s wand, and make an amulet. The workshop will conclude with a journey to meet your more than human familiar spirit who will guide you in your practice of witchcraft.

NO prior magical or practical crafting experience is necessary for this workshop, all materials are supplied and you will take home the amulet you choose to make.

Levannah Morgan has been a practising witch for more than 30 years. She has run Pagan conferences and taught workshops for many years and trains students in witchcraft and the mysteries of the goddess and gods. She founded the Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft, is a former vice president of the Pagan Federation and is active in several Pagan and witchcraft organisations. She works as an artist and filmmaker. She is the author of A Witch’s Year (Robert Hale, 2025), A Sea Witch’s Companion (Robert Hale, 2022) and A Witch’s Mirror (The Universe Machine, 2021).

Tickets just £24 plus a small booking fee for a 3 hours workshop, but spaced limited, book HERE!

We’re a step-free venue, but if you have any questions about access or need support with ticket costs, please get in touch.

At 4pm on Saturday 28th February, join curators and archivists Estelle Thistleton and Gavin Dunbar to explore the sketches and poetry in the Sven Berlin exhibition.

They will guide you through Sven Berlin’s world via the many personal sketchbooks, notebooks, files and folios in their collection, and relate their contents to the drawings on display and the life of artist.

This event is free and does not require any booking, just turn up for a 4pm start!

Writer and painter Martin Shaw will be talking about Sven Berlin's work and its placement within a re-emerging sense of Romantic tradition. What is the Blakeian attempt Berlin is making to re-enchant the world? Why does it speak to us so strongly in modernity? 

About Sven Berlin

Sven Berlin [1911–1999] was an artist, writer, and poet, and a central figure in the development of modern art in St Ives during its most creative period. Rejecting abstraction and the highly competitive mid-twentieth century art world, he chose instead to live among the New Forest Romany Gypsy community, where his empathy with nature deeply informed his life and work.

About Dr Martin Shaw

Dr Martin Shaw is a writer, mythographer and Christian thinker, and the author of seventeen books. He is a visiting member of Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity and a fellow of the Temenos Academy. He founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University and directs the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK. For over thirty years, he has worked as a wilderness rites-of-passage guide.

This event will include a talk, short Q & A, and a chance to view the exhibition.

Tickets are Sold Out but you can join the waiting list HERE.

Door time: 7:00pm, Start time: 7:30pm

Celebrate the amusing truths of Love, at this cheerfully quirky folk Valentine event; with story-spinner Ellie Brooks, cheeky wordsmith Beryl the Feral, and extraordinary oracle, Jola Pawlikowska. Bring your own bottle, your brokenness, your buoyancy - or even your boyfriend! - and seek comfort in the open arms of Field System; expecting a playful array of homegrown honest verse, real-life tales of relating, and exciting ornithomancy... 

Poetry and stories for your pleasure, embroidered with ritual, readings, crafts, corvids, and magic... A remedy against expectations on the heart. 

This is an anti-valentines pro-love event for everyone, regardless of their relationship status!

Tickets HERE. Soft drinks for sale but please bring your own bottle or can if you fancy something harder!

Door time: 7:00pm, Start time: 7:30pm

Spend a playful day with the Tarot using movement and practical exercises to embody the system behind the cards. No need to memorise all 78 meanings — you’ll learn to combine elements, numbers, and life stages to interpret cards in practical spreads. By the end of the day, you’ll have completed your first reading!

Tutor: Anne Aubin, facilitator at Ashburton Tarot Club

What we’ll cover:
You’ll explore how images trigger intuition, work with the Minor Arcana from Aces to Tens, understand Court and life-stage cards, journey through the Major Arcana as the Seeker, practise three-card spreads, and take home messages and exercises to continue learning.

What to bring:
Bring a notebook and pens to use as a Tarot journal, your own Tarot pack if you have one (no need to buy one specially), and a camera phone if you like. Packed lunch, or buy in town.

We provide:
Drinks, handouts, Tarot packs to explore, and follow-on exercises.

Door 9.45 for a 10am start, with 45 mins for lunch, finish around 4pm. Book HERE

Two storytellers invite you to embrace the spirit of Wassail as we turn our gaze to the New Year.

Rosie May, creator of the Wessex Hag podcast, spins uncanny West Country fables born of bogs, hedgerows and wind-whipped fields. Yorkshire’s Blabbermouth excavates the whispers of landscape and lore, stitching archaeology into myth.

Join us for seasonal stories about the symbolism of the new year and the significance of the orchard cycle…and, of course, there will be cider!

Tickets HERE.

Door time: 7:00pm, Start time: 7:30pm

This 3 hour with Levannah Morgan, based on her book, A Witch’s Year, will explore the magic of the darkest part of the year. Many people can find winter a difficult time, but witchcraft shows us how it can be a time of learning and creativity. In November we welcome the dark and meet the goddesses of winter; the Cailleach, the Morrigan and Arianrhod. In this workshop, we will discover the lore and rituals of these goddesses and learn how to work with them, and make some simple spells appropriate to the season. This is the time of year for scrying, divination and inner journeys deep into the imagination and the spirit world. The labyrinth is the symbol of the winter goddesses of the dark and of the magical inner journey.

Using a variety of materials and easy to learn processes, Levannah demonstrates how practical craft activities can form the basis of magical practice, and you will learn how to create a simple labyrinth for yourself that you can use in your magical work and inner journeys. The workshop will also include a guided meditation; a journey through the labyrinth to the goddesses of winter.

NO prior magical or practical crafting experience is necessary for this workshop, all materials are supplied and you will take home the labyrinth you choose to make.

Levannah Morgan has been a practising witch for more than 30 years. She has run Pagan conferences and taught workshops for many years and trains students in witchcraft and the mysteries of the goddess and gods. She founded the Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft, is a former vice president of the Pagan Federation and is active in several Pagan and witchcraft organisations. She works as an artist and filmmaker. She is the author of A Witch’s Year (Robert Hale, 2025), A Sea Witch’s Companion (Robert Hale, 2022) and A Witch’s Mirror (The Universe Machine, 2021).

Tickets just £24 plus a small booking fee for a 3 hours workshop, but spaced limited, book HERE!

We’re a step-free venue, but if you have any questions about access or need support with ticket costs, please get in touch.

On Thursday 4 December when Ashburton comes alive for its late-night Yuletide opening, join us at Field System for an evening celebrating midwinter and the standing stones that mark this most magical turning of the year.

At 5pm, writer and megalith enthusiast Fiona Robertson will lead us on a journey through Britain’s ancient landscapes - from Stonehenge and Newgrange to Maeshowe, Long Meg, and the sacred sites of the Land’s End peninsula - exploring how so many of these remarkable places were built in alignment with the winter solstice.

Five thousand years after the first light crept through the passage of Maeshowe to illuminate the dark chamber within, people still gather at stone circles to witness the greatest darkness and the return of the light. Fiona reflects on why this ancient reverence for light and dark resonates so deeply with us today, and what these monuments can teach us about finding stillness, renewal, and meaning in a modern world.

Fiona Robertson is a writer, editor, and author of Stone Lands (Robinson, 2025), a beautifully written book brought alive with the wonderful illustrations of Devon printmaker Phillip Harris. Fiona, a lifelong explorer of ancient places, has tramped many a boggy moor (OS map in hand) in search of standing stones. Passionate about archaeology and folklore, she shares her field adventures and insights on Instagram @stone_lands.

Before and after the talk, warm yourself with mugwort-spiced hot chocolate crafted by local forager, maker and cook Trudy Turrell, and enjoy yuletide folk tunes from Moor Folk, our resident musicians.

Mark the turning of the year with us — a celebration of darkness, light, and the enduring spirit of the stones. No need to book, just drop in for music and hot chocolate, but make sure you are with us 5pm for Fiona’s talk!