Dagfields Craft and Antiques Centre
Charlotte Rowland
Dagfields Craft and Antiques Centre, Nantwich truly lives up to its name. There’s crafts, and antiques, and it’s all housed in a centre which is open seven days a week, making it so easy to pop in and explore.
The latter is, really, what this place is for. Shelves are full with ornaments, candlesticks, pottery, vases and plates, and to really assess and survey the goods, you’re going to need time, and a good eye for detail. Many of the products are carefully painted, or decorated with heirloom designs, as well as quirky offcuts that seem to deter from the usual china-prints, and there’s no limit to the colour-ways or materials used. Antiques aside, the goods on-site defy expectation, going further than regular, traditional treasures to include contemporary and refreshing produce, and the rest of the space is divided into individual stalls, or mini shops, inside a shop, each named and visible according to the goods it stocks.
The craft section also houses new art materials, catering to visiting artists who want to pick up new supplies and tools. Paints, brushes, papers, frames and oil pastels fill the wall-mounts, lending the room a creative, useful feel. Toy Emporium is a haven of youthful delights, while the Flower Workshop and Booklore offer yet more niche products to browse. There’s also a resident sweet shop, where transparent jars filled with hard-boiled sweets and old-school, traditional sugar favourites can be bought by weight, in keeping with the spaces overall vintage feel. After all the browsing, foodie fans will also favour the on-site tea-room, where jacket potatoes, toasties, soups, oatcakes, quiche and cakes are served-up, with an outdoor seating area, for those rare, warm days, where you can grab a breather and mull your recent, or yet-to-come, purchases.
