This book explores the significance of manual work in radical education by uncovering experiences at two little-known experimental schools in the UK: Wennington (1940–1975) and Kilquanity (1940–1996). At both schools, the young people worked with staff to create and look after the physical fabric of the buildings and land. This research draws on text and images from the time, as well as new interview material, to uncover the experiences of pupils and staff in these schools. These sources reveal what kind of activities were involved in manual work; how their meanings varied over time and between the two schools, and how these activities supported or were in tension with the wider values and practices of the schools relating to learning, freedom, community, self-government, and relations between adults and children. Ideas and practices related to manual work and radical education are also traced into contemporary literature and settings as a way to explore whether and how these traditions continue.