Book: Wool and Water – The Gloucestershire Woollen Industry and its Mills, by Professor Jennifer Tann

A number of our members are practising historians and writers. Their publications are often of great interest to our visitors and at special events, their sales can generously contribute a little revenue to the work of the trust.

Wool and Water – The Gloucestershire Woollen Industry and its Mills, by Professor Jennifer Tann.

Tann. J., Wool and Water, The History Press, August 2012, ISBN:0752462156

How the unique industrial heritage of Gloucestershire’s woollen industry contributed architecture, stories and skills to the region.

The author’s, much consulted Gloucestershire Woollen Mllls has long been out of print. WooI and Water is a comparative, fresh appraisal of the history of the woollen industry in Gloucestershire, a county with over 200 mills in the industry’s heyday.

Wool and Water traces the origins of the water-powered industry from the late 12ft century to its demise, with two mills remaining in the 20e century. Themes discussed include the organisation of the ‘domestic’ industry until the mid-18ft century; the development the factory from the late 18h century; fluctuations in trade and, finally, competition from Yorkshire. Where did Gloucestershire’s cloth go? To markets all over the world: to Hudson’s Bay, to India besides Europe; to clothe the British Army, as well as speciality cloth for coronations and the Pope’s robes.