Turners Company - Turning Competitions Introduction

The first turning competition was held in 1857 for apprentices of Company Masters. The initial response was disappointing, in that only two entries were received, but this led to a more ambitious competition in 1870 when it was extended to any workman or apprentice in England for the best exhibit of workmanship in turning. The prize was a silver medal accompanied by the Freedom of the Company. Nine competitors took part in what was to become a regular event and the forerunner of today's competitions.

The number of competitions expanded over the following 70 years to include amateurs and industrial schools as well as established turners and apprentices. A growing interest in amateur turning after the Second World War led to the Company's decision to encourage members of the newly formed Society of Ornamental Turners by offering medals for the winners of ornamental turning competitions. The first awards were made in 1952.

In 1993 it was decided to widen the scope of the ornamental turning competitions by the introduction of competitions for plain turning, prompted by the foundation of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain. The winners of the plain turning competitions also received medals. Nowadays turning competitions are held biennially.

2008 Competitions

In 2008, the competitions are to take place in Carpenters' Hall (situated at the Liverpool Street end of London Wall) on Tuesday 3rd June 2008, the day prior to the opening of the 2008 Wizardry in Wood Exhibition.

At the conclusion of the competition, prizes will be awarded by the Master of the Carpenters' Company.

The competition will in four main sections.

The first section, open to all turners, contains The Master's Competition for a ceremonial chalice. For the first time this year, however, the Master's Competition has been divided into two parts, each with equal prize-money. The first part is limited to entries made predominantly by plain turning while the second part is for entries made largely by ornamental turning. Also in this section is The Felix Levy Competition for freestyle turning and the Open Competition for a gavel and block.

The second section, open to members of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain only, contains the Senior and Junior (under 19) Plain Turning Competitions, and the Ray Key competition for those young turners who attended the joint Company and AWGB youth training courses during 2007.

The third section, open to members of the Society of Ornamental Turners only, contains The Lady Gertrude Crawford Competition; The Fred Howe Competition and The H.E. Twentyman Competition.

The fourth section, open to Liverymen and Freemen of the Turners' Company only, contains an Open Competition and a Novice Competition.

The conditions of entry for these competitions, and an entry form, can be found at:

Competition Rules 2008