United Kingdom · Stone craft; Quarrying; Welsh heritage
Hollti Llechi — Quarryman's Art
The slate splitting tradition of the North Wales quarries — the hand-splitting of Cambrian slate from the great quarries of Penrhyn (Bethesda), Dinorwig (Llanberis), and Ffestiniog into roofing slates by the skilled quarryman's technique of reading the grain (cleavage) of the slate and splitting along it with a chisel and mallet. The Welsh quarryman reads the correct split direction through a visual grain-line and acoustic assessment identical in principle to the Rhenish slate (CRAFT-1216) but calibrated to the much finer-grained and more regular cleavage of Cambrian slate, which splits into thinner and more regular tiles than the Rhenish variety.
Risk level: Endangered · Not listed as ICH; Landscape of Slate UNESCO World Heritage (2021)
The pot still distillation of Scotch single malt whisky — the double distillation process in copper pot stills that produces the new make spirit from which all single malt Scotch whisky is aged.
The weaving of Harris Tweed — the only cloth in the world with its own Act of Parliament (the Harris Tweed Act 1993), defining it as handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland from pure virgin wool dyed and…
The Bath stone masonry tradition — the working of oolitic limestone from the quarries around Bath (Box Ground, Corsham Down) to construct and restore the Georgian architecture of Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage City (1987).
The reed thatching tradition of East Anglia — the application of Norfolk reed (Phragmites australis) to create the characteristic deep, sculpted thatched roofs of the Suffolk and Norfolk countryside, the densest concentration of thatched…
The English oak stave selection tradition for premium cooperage — the assessment of radially split (quarter-sawn) English oak staves for the specific grain tightness and ray structure that makes English oak Quercus robur the most…
The making of the Great Highland Bagpipe — Scotland's defining national instrument, consisting of a bag (traditionally sheepskin, now synthetic), three drones (bass and two tenors), and a chanter, all made from African blackwood (Dalbergia…
The quarrying and carving of Alentejo white and pink marble (mármore de Estremoz and Borba) — the material of the Portuguese royal palaces; the most prestigious Iberian marble and one of the most sought-after marbles in the world.
The carving of jadeite, the material the ancient Maya valued above gold, using a technique unique in the archive: not just the craft but the raw material's own geological source — the Motagua River Valley jadeite deposits — was completely…
A diamond-cutting and lapidary tradition centered on Ciudad Bolívar, Bolívar state, formalized institutionally in 1974 with the founding of the Escuela de Talla (School of Cutting) at the Universidad de Oriente — documented as the only…
The traditional hand-cutting and faceting of Sri Lankan gemstones — most prominently the Ceylon sapphire, prized globally for its distinctive silky, velvety blue and light transparent clarity — using the hanaporuwa, a bow-driven vertical…
The carving and finishing of jadeite (kyauk sein) in Mandalay, the principal cutting and trading center for jade mined at Hpakant in Kachin State — the world's dominant source of gem-quality jadeite, sometimes described in trade literature…
The stone masonry tradition of Canton Ticino — the Italian-speaking Swiss canton whose master masons (Maestri Comacini) exported their skills across all of Europe from the medieval period, building churches, palaces, and fortifications…