History of wool production in the U

History of wool production in the UK

From Sheep to Shirt by Marion Davies

Hundreds of years ago a wealthy merchant had the windows of his house engraved with the words:

"I praise God and ever shall – it is the sheep hath paid for all".

It is impossible to give a definitive date for when British people decided to take the wool from their sheep to be spun and woven into garments, but it is thought that sheep were being brought to Britain from the Continent by 5,000 B.C. The sheep was one of the first animals to be domesticated when people changed from being hunter gatherers to becoming farmers.

At first men probably killed the sheep for meat and then used the skin, with the wool attached, as a cape or cloak. However, this was a cumbersome and heavy garment which restricted movement, and a new way of benefiting from the warmth of the wool without having to use the whole skin needed to be found.

Celtic people, who spread their culture over central Asia, Europe and Scandinavia, came to Britain with a style of clothing which had been influenced by the cultures of Asia and India. Most Celtic clothing was made of wool, and was of a very high quality. It was exported to the Roman Empire long before the Romans came to Britiain.

Early sheep were coloured brown and grey, but, as they became domesticated, white wool began to be produced in large quantities. Ancient writings tell us that the Romans thought Celtic clothing very bright and even startling, with coloured stripes and checks. This suggests that dyeing is a very ancient process.

It is thought that the first woollen factory in England was set up by the Romans in Winchester in 50 A.D.

By the 8th century the industry had spread widely, and it is recorded that Charlemagne, King of France at this time, complained to Offa, King of Mercia, about the variation in the size of cloaks which had been sent to him.

Monasteries were great wool producers, as they had plenty of lands on which to graze large flocks. In 1043 for instance, King Leofric and his wife, Godiva, set up a Benedictine monastery at Coventry, an area which became renowned for its wool industry and its weavers.

Right – Hand shearing tools

By 1180 an ancient guild of woolmen had been established, and was even fined by King Henry 11 for operating without his license. From this guild grew The Worshipful Company of Woolmen, which is still in existence today.

As time passed on, the export of raw wool gathered speed, but much British wool was being processed abroad, Flanders in particular. This angered the British wool producers so much that, in 1258, a Great Council, headed by Simon de Montfort, ordered that the country's wool should be worked in England and not sold to foreigners, and that everyone should use woollen cloth made within this country. Probably the first instance of a "Buy British " campaign.

This order was likely to upset foreign relations, so, in 1271, the government issued a declaration that : "!all workers of woollen cloths, both male and female, as well as of other lands, may safely come into our realm, there to make cloths, upon the understanding that those who shall so come and make such cloths shall be quit of toll and tallage and of payment of other customs for their work until the end of five years". Sadly, this plea for immigrant workers did nothing to ease the situation and the English woollen industry continued to decline.

The English people liked the cloth which was produced in Flanders, and it was still imported on a large scale. So much so, that in 1326 Edward 11 ordered that : "!no cloth which was manufactured outside England, Ireland and Wales could be bought in this country, except by kings, queens, earls, barons, knights, ladies and their legitimate children, archbishops, bishops, and others who spend £40 a year of their rents". In other words, the rich !

Elizabeth 1 was so concerned about the state of the woollen trade that she told Parliament to order everyone over the age of six ( except the wealthiest ) wear on Sundays
"a cap of wool knit and dressed in England ".Elizabeth herself preferred silk by the way !

Eventually Flemish workers settled in Norfolk and Yorkshire, taxes were imposed on wool exports and on cloth imports, and the clothing industry began to flourish.

Large scale manufacture of woolen cloth is thought to have started in Worcester in 1534, and it became England's chief industry until the middle of the 18th century.

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