Nick Checksfield, Maille Maker
24th June 2025 | AWARD WINNERS | RECIPIENTS
Heritage Crafts Lifetime Achievement Award 2024
Nick Checksfield has won the 2024 Heritage Crafts Lifetime Achievement Award, supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust, including a £1,000 prize awarded at a special presentation at Eltham Palace on Tuesday 26 November 2024.
The award celebrates a heritage craftsperson who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to their specific craft over 25 years or more. It marks a lifetime’s dedication to a particular traditional skill, resulting in a practitioner operating at the highest level, having made a significant impact on the continued high-esteem in which their craft is held.
Nick Checksfield is one of only a couple of professional maille (sometimes known as ‘chain mail’) makers working in the UK today, and of these, he is by far the most experienced. The restoration of original, historical pieces is a huge challenge, requiring the making of maille links in a bewildering range of styles and types. Nick has fashioned new armour pieces for some of the most famous competition jousters and historical martial artists around the world.