From Forge to Hearth, Coggeshall Warms Up Winter Days

As winter’s cold descends, Coggeshall Farm Museum will warm up visitors with a variety of demonstrations and activities to entice all ages. Experience 18th-century candlemaking, blacksmithing and hearthcooking. Discover Coggeshall’s “Bornstein Collection” of historic hand tools, or help the museum document its 43-year history by identifing photographs from the last four decades.

Coggeshall Farm Museum is a living history museum honoring the the lives of hard-working 18th-century farmers, Rhode Island’s original middle class. Visitors are encouraged to experience first-hand in the daily activities of farm life in all seasons.

Coggeshall is open year-round, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm. In January and February, you’ll experience the daily life of an 18th-century farm in winter. Coggeshall is located at 1 Colt Drive in Bristol, off Poppasquash Road.

The following activities are free to Coggeshall members and included with regular admission for nonmembers (Weekdays: $5/adults; $3/children, seniors and active-duty military. Weekends: $7/adults; $5/children, seniors and active-duty military). For more information on any upcoming activities, visit www.coggeshallfarm.org, call 401-253-9062 or email Cindy Elder at c.elder@coggeshallfarm.org.

Schedule of Activities (January/February)

Bread Baking
Saturdays, 11 am: Experience bread baked in a beehive brick oven and help prepare bread dough for the next day.

Candlemaking
Saturdays, noon to 2 pm: Learn to make candles from scratch for the long, dark winter ahead using the drip technique and 18th-century molds.

Blacksmith Shop
Sundays, 11 am to 3 pm: Watch our resident blacksmith create nails, knives, hooks and other useful objects in our 18th-century blacksmith shop.

Hearthcooking
Sundays, 11 am to 2 pm: Join us as we cook up something special over the hearth. From soups to jonnycakes or tasty desserts, every Sunday promises a new hearthcooking experience.

Tool Time
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11 am to 1 pm (or by appointment): View a rotating selection of Coggeshall’s Bornstein Collection of historic hand tools as our Collections Specialist actively researches the origins and uses of each implement. Scholars and researches encouraged to participate. To schedule an appointment with the Collections Specialist, email McKayla Hoffman at m.hoffman@coggeshallfarm.org.

Memory Lane
Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am - 4 pm: Flip through Coggeshall’s collection of photographs from its 43-year history as a nonprofit organization and help identify people and activities from years gone by.

Trail Blazers
By appointment for volunteers age 14 and up (weather dependent): Get some fresh air and help establish a woodlands trail on Coggeshall’s 48-acre site. Volunteers must complete an application and interview prior to work. Project suitable for students seeking community service hours. To participate, email Casey Duckett at c.duckett@coggeshallfarm.org.