The English Woollen Textile Industry

Paper Summary:

From medieval times to the Victorian era, many areas in England became prosperous from the trade in wool and woollen textiles. This paper describes the reasons for the success and how the industry evolved to embrace new technology while catering to new fashions. By considering two parishes in West Yorkshire, it examines the character of the people, the development of amenities and markets and the effect on the locality of the industry's decline.

Outline
A Cottage Industry
Industrialisation
Mechanisation
The 'Fancy' Trade
Kirkburton
Penistone
Bibliography

From the Paper:

"The wool trade was an important national export as early as the 12th Century, although clothes had been made from wool for a long time before then. Thirty thousand sacks were shipped abroad each year in the 13th Century, mostly to Flanders where there was a highly-developed cloth industry dependent upon English wool. Customs duty was levied in 1275 and this may have helped to stimulate industry in England. Fulling , mills powered by water were built in the country to shrink felt and scour cloth; by the end of the 13th Century there were significant numbers in the Yorkshire West Riding, the Lake District, Wiltshire and the West Country."

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