Some of our finest moments play out under a marquee’s canvas. Here is the light and the shadow that the newlywed sees as they twirl through their first dance; the sculpted frame around a familiar or novel setting; the stitching, rope and drape that draw the eye when conversations ebb.
Our ancestors would recognise these experiences as well as we do. Marquees have sheltered our revels since as early as the 17th century, while tents of all kinds have been used in love, war, survival and play since antiquity.
For most of their history, marquees were handmade from traditional materials – but nowadays, the vast majority are mass-produced from plastics.
It was at their own marquee wedding that Chris and Lynsey Brawn, co-founders of Wills Marquees, began a journey towards reinvigorating the craft of traditional marquee-making.
“We’d had our wedding marquee made for us by Dave and Laura Rothwell, who ran a company called Belle Tents,” Chris told Ernest Wright.
“It was expensive, so we set up a little business renting out the marquee, which was quite successful.
“One day, Dave and Laura told us that they were going to retire, and they didn’t know anyone who wanted to take on the skills that they’d acquired over a lifetime – but would we like to?”
Crafting to new peaks
Autumn has fallen on the North Yorkshire village of Marton cum Grafton, site of the Wills Marquees HQ. Chris and Lynsey’s team are busy here cutting and sewing canvas, crafting wooden poles and designing new marquees, ready for the year ahead.
This business – its workshop, the team’s skills, and a glamorous calendar of bookings reaching high into the events market and across the globe – is the fruit of fourteen years’ devotion to craftsmanship.
“The skill comes in the creation of a template, and in attaching all the parts,” says Chris.
“Every marquee is basically a series of templates laid onto canvas, and then cut out and assembled. It’s a very hands-on, iterative process.”
Wills Marquees’ tents have graced the pages of Vogue, Tatler and Country Life – as well as many of the nation’s most elegant event settings.
“What makes our marquees stand out is the shape, which comes from the template and the materials,” says Chris.
“Their design is made up of high points called ‘peaks’, curved lines that we call the ‘swoop’, and the lowest point, which is the ‘saddle’. One of the design elements of the tent is that it uses the strength of the fabric to create that curve.”
Typically, a marquee-maker will place a horizontal pole between the vertical ‘king poles’ at the centre of a marquee. This creates a straight or angled apex which, for Wills Marquees, doesn’t quite reach the heights of fantasy.
“Instead, we use the inherent strength of the fabric to create curvature,” says Chris.
“The ends are rounded rather than square, and really, there isn’t a straight line from any angle. That combination of curves is part of what gives the marquees their beauty.”
Characterful canvas
The components of a ‘Wills marquee’ are crafted almost entirely from three materials: wood, rope and canvas. To the greatest practicable extent, the parts are handmade from natural materials.
“Whereas most companies use ratchet straps to pitch their marquees, we use hand-spliced ropes, tensioned by handmade oak sliders,” says Chris.
“To make the poles and other wooden elements, we buy wood from local mills, season it for a period and then select the best pieces to hand-work. We apply ancient techniques and tools like drawknives and lathes, and work up the wood so that it has a lovely shaft.”
In any traditional marquee, the canvas is king. Chris and Lynsey source theirs from British Millerain, a heritage producer in Rochdale.
“It’s true canvas with character, made by an old Northern dyer and cloth company which supplies fabric to Barbour and Belstaff,” says Chris.
“We cut it in the canvas shop using the 10″ tailor shears, which give us the ability to be quick and precise, and make the user feel good about themselves.”
The marquees are finished off splendidly with handmade wooden finials, and erected skilfully using geometry – “We use a lot of Pythagoras,” says Chris) – and techniques such as Dutch lacing.
More days under the Sun
Where most of us experience marquees as something ephemeral – here today, gone tomorrow – Wills Marquees are seeking to create a lasting legacy.
The long-term future of the company looks safe with Chris and Lynsey’s sons, Will, Tom and Ben. Meanwhile, the Wills team is striving to secure B Corp certification, which would seem a fitting recognition for their profit-sharing model and focus on low-waste manufacturing.
In a broader perspective, Chris and his colleagues have set themselves a mission to document and help preserve the hand-craft of marquee-making.
“One of the problems in the industry is that there is no library, no information, no book and no-one you can turn to for help and advice,” he says.
“To my knowledge, there are only two or three other companies working the way that we do in the UK, and I don’t think there’s another company outside the UK that works in canvas.”
While sharing hard-earned knowhow could carry some risk for Wills Marquees, Chris and Lynsey are determined to pass on their craft skills to future generations.
“It takes a huge amount of time and effort to acquire that capability, and you never really finish developing your skills,” says Chris.
“So, one of the things we’ve done is create a library of technique and information, which we believe will help future marquee-makers. We’re not aware of that knowledge library existing anywhere else.”
For now, Wills Marquees is enjoying its day in the sun – just as the company’s clients are enjoying cherished days under canvas. Like Dave and Laura Rothwell before them, Chris and Lynsey Brawn are ensuring the beauty of the traditional marquee can stand tall again come spring.
You can find out more about Wills Marquees here.
