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With good-quality clay and a constant demand for jugs and mugs in which to serve cider and milk, there is a long tradition of pottery-making in Normandy. At the Musée de la Poterie in Ger (between Flers and Mortain), you can see how the craft has developed over 500 years, and watch a potter at work. In Noronla-Poterie near Bayeux, salt-glaze pottery has been made since the Middle Ages; several studios are still in operation. The painted earthenware of Forges-les-Eaux is on display in the Musée de Faïence there.

Faïence (earthenware with a white tin glaze that can then be decorated) was introduced to Rouen by Masséot Abaquesne in the mid-16th century. It flowered into a fine art, before ceasing in the 1780s with the advent of imported chinaware. Beautiful examples can be seen in the Musée de la Céramique in Rouen, and modern copies are on sale all over town (see Faïencerie Augy, Rouen).

In Normandy, épis de faitage , often coloured and ending either in a simple point or topped by a bird, are much admired. Seen to best effect on the fantastical 19th-century villas of Deauville, they can also be spotted in the Bayeux Tapestry. You could have one too: at Poterie du Mesnil de Bavent in Ranville, ceramic finials have been hand-produced since 1842 (see Poterie du Mesnil de Bavent, Ranville).

From the 17th to 19th centuries, lace was all the rage across Europe. In Normandy, Alençon, Argentan and Bayeux were the three main centres of production, each with their own technique. Exquisite examples can be seen in all three towns, while Bayeux’s bobbin lace with its intricate floral motif is still made by a dedicated group of craftswomen (see Conservatoire de la Dentelle).

Highly regarded, Norman antique furniture is characterized by four objects: the wardrobe (traditionally part of a bride’s dowry), the sideboard, the longcase clock and the box bed. Fine 18th- and 19th-century pieces, on display in museums and for sale in antique s shops, are well proportioned, elegant and often elaborately decorated.

In Bézu-Saint-Eloi, 6 km (4 miles) northwest of Gisors, Ateliers Jorelle have been making traditional wooden toys since 1864. Visit the workshop, or look out for their products in local toy and craft shops, including spinning tops and an obstacle game called jouet de la grenouille (literally, “frog game”) played in Normandy since the Middle Ages.

The glassworks in the Bresle Valley are renowned, accounting for 80 per cent of luxury perfume bottles. The Musée des Traditions Verrières in Eu displays examples of astonishing beauty, while at the 16th-century Manoir de Fontaine in Blangy-sur-Bresle, you can watch weekend glass-blowing demonstrations and buy examples of the art.

A warm, burnished glow emanates from shop windows crammed with copper pots and pans in picturesque Villedieu-les-Poêles. Copper has been its business since the 12th century, reaching a peak in the mid-18th, when there were nearly 150 workshops in town. Today, there is no better place to buy copper utensils (poêles means pots) or to see the craftsmen at work.

Until the French Revolution, only wealthy landowners had the right to keep pigeons, and the size of the dovecote (colombier ) was a mark of prosperity. Look out for Normandy’s many fine examples, mellow with age: circular, square or polygonal, tiled and half-timbered, or patterned in brick and flint.

Each July, there is an excellent arts and crafts fair, Le Festival de Métiers d’Art de Reviers, in Reviers (Calvados). In the Forêt de Brotonne (Eure), visit the Maison des Métiers at Bourneville, and the linen and clog-makers’ workshops at Routot. Also keep an eye out for workshops in towns and villages, and arts and crafts on sale at markets and antiques fairs. The fair in Les Andelys in early September, for example, dates back to the Middle Ages.