Hands-On Wool Spinning Workshop at Kings Landing Historic Village

At Kings Landing in Prince William, New Brunswick, the Wool Spinning Workshop offers a quiet, three-hour window into an essential rural craft. Housed in the Learning Centre inside the historic village, the session is led by costumed interpreters Susan, Erin, and Virginia and built for small groups — up to six people — so every participant gets hands-on time at the wheel and with the drop spindle. You’ll start with a short introduction to fiber types and carding, step through drafting and twist control, and end with a small sample of hand-spun yarn that demonstrates tension and rhythm.

The key features are immediate and tactile: the treadle-driven spinning wheel, the simple drop spindle, sample lengths of raw and washed wool, and demonstration tools that show how households turned fleece into usable yarn. The Learning Centre’s timber-lined room fills with the irregular click of spokes and the faint scent of lanolin; light from the village windows highlights the variations in fiber color and texture. That sensory clarity is what makes this workshop stand out in New Brunswick — it puts technique, history, and material in the same frame so you can see how a remote farming community clothed itself.

Kings Landing itself is a preserved historic village that recreates rural life along the Saint John River; the workshop gives that interpretation a practical edge. The program includes admission to Kings Landing and light refreshments, and check-in is at the Kings Landing Welcome Centre. The workshops take place within the historic village several metres from the entrance and without air conditioning. If you have any accessibility concerns, please let us know.

This is an ideal experience for people who enjoy craft, history, or slow, focused learning. Beginners leave with a basic competence on a drop spindle and a sense of the wheel’s mechanics; more experienced spinners appreciate technique refinements taught in close quarters. As a visitor activity, it’s unique because it connects living-history interpretation with a take-home skill rather than a passive demonstration.

Practical tips: arrive a few minutes early, wear comfortable clothing for sitting, and expect concentrated instruction rather than a performance. The minimum age is 16; the intimate group size encourages questions and tailored coaching. Photography of hands and tools can capture technique, but be respectful of interpreters and fragile displays. In an era of mass textiles, this workshop is a compact reminder that clothing once began as a manual craft, and that learning to spin is as much about patience and observation as it is about producing yarn. Book early to secure a spot in the limited six-person sessions, and use the provided referral link to confirm dates; the intimate format fills quickly during peak summer months every year.