Wealden cloth industry facts for kids

Cloth-making was a very important industry in the Weald area of Kent and Sussex during the Middle Ages. It was almost as big as the iron-making business there. This area was perfect for making cloth because there was lots of wool from sheep on the Romney Marsh.

Also, many skilled cloth-makers moved to England from Flanders in the 1300s. Towns like Cranbrook welcomed hundreds of these workers. This helped cloth-making become a major part of Kent's industrial history. The industry grew across the Weald and even reached as far north as Maidstone.

One special thing that helped was finding Fuller's earth near Boxley and Maidstone. This clay was super important for cleaning the grease out of the wool. Back then, it was even against the law to send Fuller's earth out of the country, so other countries couldn't use it to make their own cloth!

How Cloth Was Made

Making cloth was a long process with several steps. First, the wool had to be prepared.

Preparing the Wool

• Carding: This was the first step. Workers used special brushes to comb the wool. This helped to untangle it and get it ready for spinning.
• Spinning: After carding, the wool was spun into yarn. This meant twisting the fibers together to make long threads. Both carding and spinning could often be done by people working from their own homes.

Weaving the Fabric

Once the yarn was ready, it was time for weaving. This is where the threads are crisscrossed to make fabric. Weaving needed special machines called looms. These looms were big and needed a lot of space.

Because of this, special buildings called 'clothier's halls' were built. These halls were often long rooms, sometimes even taking up the whole attic of the master clothier's house. An example of this is the old timber-framed clothier's hall in Biddenden. There is also a clothier's house in Cranbrook that had a separate building just for the looms.

Finishing the Cloth

After weaving, the cloth went through a few more important steps:

• Fulling: The woven cloth was then taken to be fulled. This process used the special Fuller's earth to clean the cloth even more and make it thicker and stronger.
• Drying: Once fulled, the cloth needed to be dried.
• Brushing: When dry, the cloth was brushed with special prickly plants called teasels. This helped to remove any loose threads and make the surface smooth.
• Shearing: Finally, a worker called a shearman would carefully cut off any extra bits of wool that were sticking out. This made the cloth look neat and finished.

Rules for Cloth Quality

There were strict rules to make sure the cloth sold was good quality and the right size.

• Most cloth was supposed to be about 63 inches (about 160 cm) wide.
• However, Kentish broadcloth was a bit narrower, usually 58 inches (about 147 cm) wide.
• One full piece of cloth was usually between 30 and 34 yards (about 27.5 to 31 m) long.
• It was also expected to weigh around 66 pounds (about 30 kg).

Special officials called 'ulnagers' were in charge of checking each piece of cloth to make sure it met all these rules.

Cost of Cloth

At the start of the 1600s, a single piece of Kentish cloth cost between £12 and £16. To give you an idea of how much that was, just one yard of cloth could cost as much as a farmworker's wages for two or three weeks!

See also

• Worshipful Company of Clothworkers
• Cloth hall
• tenterhook