Dozens of traditional British crafts that have been practised for centuries are in serious danger of vanishing forever, a new study says.

Craftspeople, from flute makers to glass sign painters, and wagon builders to bell founders, are on the brink of extinction as fewer people are learning their skills.

The warning comes as the Heritage Crafts Association release a new 'Red List of Endangered Crafts' to highlight the ancient trades most at risk of disappearing.

Researchers have assessed 212 UK crafts, which were divided into four categories of 'extinct', 'critically endangered', 'endangered' and 'currently viable'.

Mould and deckle making - a form of papermaking - has been classed as newly extinct after the last practitioner died in 2017. The 'extinct' list also includes cricket ball making, gold beating, sieve making and lacrosse stick making.

Of the remaining crafts in the study - done by the HCA - 36 were deemed critically endangered. There were 70 deemed endangered, and 102 classed as still viable.

The sixteen newly listed critically endangered crafts for 2019 are:

  • Basketwork furniture making
  • Damask weaving
  • Fair Isle straw-backed chair making
  • Hat plaiting
  • Kishie basket making
  • Maille making
  • Millwrighting
  • Orrery making
  • Paper making (commercial)
  • Pottery (industrial)
  • Reverse glass sign painting
  • Shinty caman making
  • Spinning wheel making
  • Wainwrighting
  • Watch face enamelling
  • Withy pot making

Already on the list included clay pipe making, clog making (hand-carved soles), coachbuilding and wagon making, collar making, fan making, piano making and saw making.

Watchmaking, flute making, and bell founding have all been upgraded from endangered to critically endangered, while umbrella making is a new arrival in the endangered list.