We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves, I'm Carolyn and he's David and we are Beyond The Byre Artisan Jewellers. Our name is inspired by where we live "Cowbyres" and its a nod to the changing face of rural farming. We aren't farmers and we wouldn't profess to have any experience of pastoral farming, but we do live within a cow pat of a working farm. We follow the flow of the seasons and enjoy the land without having to partake in the heavy, hard and often challenging work involved, David has had to steer a tractor out of a snow drift, during The Beast from the East in winter 2018, but that's where our responsibility ends, or does it?
We believe that we have found our place in this rural community, where in the past agriculture and mining dominated the landscape.
Our studio overlooks the beautiful Derwent Reservoir and our view captures the border of Northumberland and County Durham. The medieval village of Blanchland has been our home since 2017, we feel privileged to live here and we have to regularly pinch ourselves as a reminder that this is the place we chose to call home.
So why jewellery and why us? We started tinkering in March 2020, as lockdown changed and interrupted so many lives, we too felt the need to keep busy, keep occupied and be creative. Over the past two years we have learnt so much, we don't profess to be experts, we know we are still learning, evolving and growing, both in confidence and style. We are completely self taught, which means we have established our own style, practice and ethos. We make what we love and we love what we make, we experiment, we learn from our mistakes and we use the materials, the seasons, the setting and mood to create our eclectic range of silver, copper and enamel jewellery.
Browse our extensive collection of handmade jewellery
Our aim is to be a creative outlet, a made in Blanchland brand, beautiful jewellery, made in Northumberland by local people, whose artisanal approach is to design distinctive necklaces, rings, bangles and earrings that can't be bought on the High Street, but can be purchased online, through small independent outlets and through makers markets, craft events, pop up shops and country shows. So if you get a buzz from buying small, indie and from creatives who have a genuine appreciation for their craft, the countryside and customer service then look no further, Beyond The Byre could be just the Jewellers you have been looking for.