Gansey Shore is a new exhibition of traditional seafarer's ganseys. Ganseys are rugged, warm jumpers hand-knitted 'in the round' and were common from the 19th Century up to the mid 20th Century and were found not just along North Norfolk's shores but from Scotland down the north-east coast right round to Devon and Cornwall, with particularly well-known examples from North Yorkshire, the Humber, Norfolk and Cornwall. The ganseys feature distinctive patterns and motifs, often said to represent particular towns, areas or families though designs were very much up to the knitters and there was much crossover and adaptation.

Gansey Shore is produced by the Wells and Stiffkey Gansey Group, an informal group of knitters who meet most weeks at Rescue Wooden Boats in Stiffkey over the summer and at The Maltings in Wells in the winter months and help keep the gansey tradition alive by creating their own garments to be worn or shown. They are an offshoot of the Sheringham Museum Textile Team and East Anglia Gansey Group, both of which have done much to document, record and preserve the tradition.

Gansey Shore is on at the Maltings Arts Centre in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk on the first weekend of Wells Canival Week, 10am-4pm, 1st and 2nd August 2026. Entry is free... hope to see you there!

Contact us

If you've any questions or would like to get involved with the exhibition or join the Wells & Stiffkey Gansey Group, please send us a message using the form below.

Supported by

We are grateful to the following organisations for their help and support...