MossValley: 1900, Pt 1, Woollen Industry, Historically and Commercially Considered
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THE WOOLLEN INDUSTRY,
HISTORICALLY AND COMMERCIALLY CONSIDERED

by
Fred Bradbury
Head of the Textile Department,
Municipal Technical School, Halifax, Yorkshire

Transcript from
The Co-operative Wholesale Societies Limited
England and Scotland Annual

1900

Stained Glass Window at Hadleigh, Suffolk: The Lamb of God

Many churches were built with "wool money" or have memorials and artefacts making reference to the woollen industry. This is a stained glass window in one such church at Hadleigh in Suffolk, depicting the Lamb of God, symbol of St. John the Baptist.
Photo copyright © MossValley, 2002


Part One

Part Two  |  Part Three

[ see also the illustrations accompanying this article ]

The art of manipulating the raw wool into yarn or threads, and of subsequently manufacturing it into woven cloth for clothing and other covering purposes, dates far back into the remote ages of antiquity. If the preparation and manufacture of cloth were considered from the ancient period alone, they would form an interesting volume, for most human minds manifest an interest in all things which justly claim to have had their origin in ancient and especially prehistoric times. Ever since England began to rise in rank among the nations, the spinning of wool into yarn and the manufacture of woollen fabrics has formed the staple industry of the kingdom, and is now, at least, one of the principal trades of this great commercial country. At one period in our country's history, the wealth of the nation was wrapped up in the Woollen Industry; to-day, whilst the nation is not dependent upon this industry so exclusively as heretofore, it nevertheless forms one of the most important of its commercial enterprises.

A suitable introduction to the above subject must necessarily involve, at least, a brief consideration of the earliest mention of wools and manufactures, both Scriptural and historical. There can be little doubt that the manufacture of woven fabrics was practised in the early history of man. The first kind of clothing would certainly be crude and primitive, but doubtless it would satisfy the needs and circumstances of man at that time, for our first parents had few wants. They did not require much clothing — only, in fact, a short dress made of fig leaves (Genesis, iii, 7). But when ejected at a subsequent period from their genial clime they wore coats of skins (Genesis, iii, 21). Later, as the original families and afterwards small and great nations extended their borders, sought out, discovered, and then migrated to more distant parts of the globe, especially to the North and West, they found the climatic conditions less favourable; consequently, other kinds of clothing became necessary, and it is most probable that at this early date spinning and weaving in its rudest form had its origin; hence we have an early example of the subsequent proverbial saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention".

The art of making cloth gradually developed until it reached a state when it was fit to be employed as garments for clothing and as coverings or wrappers (Genesis, ix, 23; Exodus, xxii, 26). Subsequently the art of dyeing was discovered, for Joseph's coat was made of many colours. It would also appear that the ingenuity of the people had suggested the idea of combining woollen and linen in the same texture, for in Leviticus, xiii, 47-48, it is recorded, "Whether it be a woollen garment or a linen garment, whether it be in the warp or woof [weft] of linen or of woollen". This art of combination has, in these later days, been carried to a high degree of perfection. The simplicity and facility with which wool could be manipulated and drawn out into a thread, as compared with linen or other vegetable material, would conduce to its more general adoption and use, hence it is very probable that for a long period the woollen manufacture was the principal one known to the ancients. From a study of the history of the ancient nations it is soon observed that those nations which had a convenient maritime situation, and thus a natural opening for the bartering of their wares, easily conceived that they could obtain a much greater profit upon exchanging their produce or manufactures with people inhabiting the country across the narrow seas (for the commerce of the ancient world was confined to the coasts of the Mediterranean and Red Seas); therefore it was generally found that countries situated so favourably almost always made most progress in the arts and manufactures.

Before the introduction of the mariner's compass, navigators did not dare to venture far out to sea, but with its invention countries fortunately having a great seaboard or an insular position received an impetus in trade and commerce, for the mariner could now undertake more distant expeditions, execute them in considerably less time, and so bring the nations closer together.

The woollen manufacture which had enriched many towns in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries, and especially Florence, seems to have always been pervaded with the spirit of migration, particularly westward, though there must always have been a cause which resulted in such a radical change. Accordingly, we find that France, Flanders, and England, especially Flanders (Netherlands), are all introducing and encouraging the manufacture of woollen cloth. Owing to the number of navigable rivers, the flatness of the country, and suitability for canals in the Netherlands, the inhabitants of that country extensively developed this useful and wealth-producing industry by fully utilising their natural advantages. At a later period, however, the persecution of the Flemish by Philip of Spain resulted in the exit from Flanders of the most independent in spirit and active and skilful in business. These were for the most part experts in the manufacture of cloth and the arts associated with the spinning and weaving processes, and they found a safe refuge in those countries anxious to encourage the weaving industry, Great Britain being a notable illustration; in fact, no country was in a better position to reap the immediate profit and benefit from these important changes in the state of commerce and manufacture, for at this time no other country, Spain excepted, produced a better and more plentiful supply of wool. Hence it transpired that upon the ruins of the Spanish Netherlands many of the English clothing industries were established.

The history of the English woollen manufacture, however, does not date from this period, as many writers have assumed, but it rather received an impetus with the emigration of the Flemish weavers. The first mention of English sheep and necessarily wool, according to early English records, dates from about the beginning of the 8th century. The existence of sheep in England at that time receives part confirmation by the severe measures which Edgar the Peaceful took in the middle of the 10th century to destroy their greatest enemy — wolves. At first the wool was chiefly exported, but eventually the people realised that they could use it themselves, for in the year 1100 a certain Thomas Cole is spoken of as the rich clothier of Reading, "whose wains filled with cloth crowded the highway between that town and London". Henry I gratified Cole and his friends by making his own arm the standard measure of one yard. No sooner was wool plentiful in England and known to be valuable, than it fell a victim to arbitrary power and monopoly which appears to have had its advent with commerce, for English wool until the beginning of the present century was not allowed to be exported free of duty — at first 5s. per sack was paid by the merchants, and in the days of Edward I it had reached 40s.

Edward III, observing the great gain to the Netherlands by the export of this wool (in memory whereof the Duke of Burgundy instituted the order of the Golden Fleece — where, indeed, the fleece was ours, the gold theirs, so vast was their emolument by the trade of clothing) resolved if possible to reduce the trade to this country, and so every protection was given to foreign manufacturers settling in England. About the same time it was enacted a felony to export wool, and it is said that the woolsacks still used in the House of Lords were originally placed there as seats to remind the Peers of the importance of the wool trade, the great staple at that time of England.

Before the close of the long and happy rule of Edward III the textile manufacturers and trade in general had reached, compared with the circumstances of the age, a mighty growth. Then commenced that rivalry between the aristocracy and the trading classes which has continued without intermission to the present day. Previous to this, wealth was the possession of few; now the genius of trade enriched thousands, conferred the dignity of rank upon merchants and manufacturers, spread the blessings of freedom and plenty, wealth, and security over the land, and raised from their slavish and dependent state the commonality to the condition of free Englishmen.

In the early part of the reign of Henry VIII, John Winchcomb, a wealthy clothier (better known as Jack of Newberry), had 100 looms and evidently 100 men to work them, for he supplied 100 men all armed and clothed at his expense and marched them in the expedition to Flodden Field against the Scots. When Edward VI was crowned King, the growth of wool had increased and the manufacture of woollens had developed and spread itself in London and the suburbs and to various parts of the country, notably Berkshire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Norwich, and Halifax; the last-named place receiving especial mention by Smith in his "Memoirs of Wool". The increase in cloth manufacture appears to have extended so largely that by the reign of Queen Mary there is scarcely any necessity to export wool, for the Customs received from wool sent out of the country had diminished almost to zero.

In Elizabeth's reign, as almost every schoolboy knows, there were many interesting incidents of great national importance, notwithstanding which the woollen trade did not remain at a standstill, but, on the contrary, it received its greatest impetus (with the exception of the introduction of power machinery at a later date). It was in this reign that several Flemish weavers — refugees from their native country — were encouraged to settle here in England and to follow the craft they had practised in Flanders, and which they could execute so well. The projected invasion of England by the Spanish Armada necessarily interfered with the commerce of this country somewhat about this time, yet the trade of England at the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth was nevertheless greater than at any previous period, though possibly not as great as some writers would have us believe, for very much has been said about this period and its advantages which many historians are liable to exaggerate when they get into the strain of description.

That the clothing trade of this country was great no one can deny. The English merchant adventurers alone exported kerseys and woollen cloths to the value of £1,000,000 in the year 1601. In this reign the foreign trade of England was in the hands of three different companies, viz. "The Stillyard" (foreigners), "The Merchants of the Staple", and "The Merchant Adventurers" (English), each of which had granted to them certain privileges in trade, for which favour they paid to the Kings various sums of money. As recently as the year 1890 the arms of this ancient company of merchant adventurers could be seen in Halifax, carved over the entrance of a shop now demolished; their armorial bearings may still be seen over the entrance of Fossgate Hall, York.

In the reign of Henry VIII an Act was passed to prohibit the exportation of white undressed cloth, i.e. cloth undyed and unfinished. The Dutch appear to have been more expert in this art than the English; but in Elizabeth's reign this Act was ignored, a licence being granted to the merchant adventurers. Subsequently, in the reign of James I, an alderman, whose name was Cockayne, together with several rich Londoners, obtained from the King a patent for the sole right to dye and finish all cloths. The Dutch, however, retaliated and prohibited absolutely the importation of English "dyed dress cloths", with the result that the English trade suffered, and the principal argument used by Cockayne and his friends, viz. that "the Dutch could not dispense with English cloth in whatever shape it should please the nation to send it", was proved to be worthless. There was gradually a feeling, and an opinion gaining credence throughout England, that English wool was superior to all other, which it will be well to take note of because, as will presently be seen, this belief was the cause of great and innumerable strifes betwixt wool growers and woollen manufacturers, or, in other words, between the landed aristocracy and the commercial men. During the existence of Alderman Cockayne's patent the price of wool fell, and the exports diminished to such an extent that his patent was repealed and the previous privilege of the merchant adventurers restored.

But there are always other factors which materially contribute to the prosperity of the national industries and the well-being of the nation itself. Not the least among these is that of civil and religious liberty; hence Archbishop Laud's intolerance and too rigid injunctions to the "Act of Conformity" frightened thousands of descendants of Protestants from foreign lands, but now living in England, as well as Englishmen themselves, out of this country into other lands, and singularly enough they travelled westward as their ancestors (from the Continent) had done before, and settled principally in the New England States. Many of these forced emigrants were manufacturers or experts in the art of weaving cloth, and so it happened, as it generally does happen, persecution drove out the best and most independent spirits and all those who chose to leave their native soil and fight the battle of life in possibly less favoured climes rather than sacrifice their principles or religious beliefs.

Whatever reasons my be assigned, the decline of English manufacturing was now certain, for the total annual exports in 1612 and 1613 were about 2½ millions, whilst at the end of the fifty years which followed, instead of increasing, they had fallen to about two millions annually. Then there followed an Act of Parliament to prohibit the exportation of wool, since there was an idea abroad that most foreign-made cloths were made either in part or whole from English wool. In support of this Act it was urged that there could not be any cloth made which was worth the name unless it contained at least some mixture of English wool, which at that time was much superior for the purpose than could be obtained elsewhere, but this contention in the light of subsequent events appears very much exaggerated.

In the year 1668 a man named Brewer, with about fifty walloons, was encouraged by the King to commence a manufacturing and dyeing works in England for fine woollen cloth. During the year 1669 the exports had increased to 2 and 2/3 millions, but towards the latter part of the reign of Charles II the woollen manufacture had again declined, and as a consequence the price of English wool depreciated, which at that time was a serious loss to England, for then wool constituted the foundation of her riches. Various artificial means were attempted to remedy this decline, the most notable being in the early part of the reign of James I, when it was enacted that all persons in England should wear woollen clothing for at least six months in the year; but the French appear to have got the most benefit from this Act, for within the short space of three years they exported to England cloths to the value of £4,000,000, which practically overstocked the English market.

In 1699 an Act was passed to reduce the duty on exported woollens, and in this year the amount of woollen exports is given as £3,000,000, the largest ever known up to this time. Again, in 1703, the exports from England almost reached £3,000,000, and during the same year England concluded a treaty with Portugal to admit English woollens on more advantageous terms, shortly after which, in 1708, the English woollen manufacturing is found to be in a flourishing state.

The average woollen export from England during the years 1718 to 1724 was nearly £3,000,000. The next increase that is noticed is from 1738 to 1743, when the average is about £3,500,000; whilst during the next ten years, 1744 to 1754, the exports rose to an average of £3,725,000 each year, which seems to imply that the woollens made for the past half century had been increasing in volume of importance and trade all along the line, though true, perhaps, not in any fixed ratio — trade seldom, if ever, does. It is interesting to note here that at this period it was contended that £10 worth of English wool when manufactured into cloth was in value equal to £60, i.e. England reaped the benefit of £50 in labour from the efforts of her countrymen. This argument was used to further the policy of prohibiting the exportation of English and Irish wool to foreign parts.

About this time the spinning and manufacturing of woven fabrics of all kinds were slowly but surely giving birth to modifications of methods for manipulating the raw material into yarn, which were destined eventually to completely revolutionise the trade and commerce of Britain. For ages the only mode of spinning yarn was by the aid of the "distaff", which method may be described as follows: The "distaff" was a short thick stick or shaft, one end of which was held under the left arm of the spinner, whilst the other held the wool which was read to be drawn out into a thread, both hands being at liberty to work the wool. The first few inches of the wool would probably be drawn out and twisted by the fingers only; this prepared end was then attached to a suspended spindle which was made to revolve and was usually made of wood about 15 inches in length, one end being weighted chiefly with gypsum. The spindle was employed partly to draw out the thread and to assist, by its tendency to twirl, to impart to the drawn out thread a sufficient twist as would enable the material to hold together in its attenuated form. This mode of working, or something very similar, was probably employed by the ancients for a very considerable period previous to the invention of the one-thread spinning wheel (see Plate 2 below), which it is supposed was first introduced into this country by a baker of the name of Jurgens in the year 1520. A similar mode of spinning was in use at and before this time in India, but this was somewhat inferior to that of the European method.

At the time to which we now refer, the one-wheel spinning method does not appear to have met with universal favour or come to the knowledge of all, for Dyer, an English poet, who wrote "The Fleece" in the year 1757, says:

And many yet adhere
To the ancient distaff at the bosom fixed,
Casting the whirling spindle as they walk;
At home, or in the sheepfold, or the mart,
Alike the work proceeds.

The system of weaving was still performed upon the old treadle loom (see Plate 4 below), power-loom weaving not having yet been introduced into practise. Primitive as were the methods of the weaver, he was always waiting for yarn from the spinner. This difficulty was increased when, in 1738, John Kay, a native of Bury in Lancashire, introduced what was then called the "fly shuttle". He was residing among the woollen weavers at Colchester when he first conceived the idea, and by the application of his discovery they were enabled to produce double the amount of cloth than heretofore. The method adopted prior to Kay's invention was to wind the weft on a stick or lath which was grooved at the end so as to hold a sufficient length of yarn, the stick containing the weft being continually passed through the opening in the warp by hand, similar to the principle illustrated at Plate 3 (below). By adding an extra length to each side of the going part (that portion which is employed to beat up the weft into the cloth) and adopting a suitable shuttle to fit the size of the opening and the dimensions of the boxes at opposite sides of the loom, the shuttle was made to travel rapidly, or "fly", through the opening in the warp (technically called "shed") being received and remaining stationary in the shuttle box at the opposite end of the loom ready for the next pick. This simple picking invention enabled one weaver to weave greater widths of cloth than hitherto. Some broadcloths which had previously required two men to produce them could now be made by one person. I have seen the old method of picking in use, and it is still employed and preferred in the manufacture of chenille rugs which are woven by hand, even though power is used in the same room.

The invention of John Kay only aggravated the difficulty of the weaver to obtain a sufficient supply of weft from the spinners. The inventor was, however, so threatened with persecution by workmen who feared that they would lose their employment that he fled to Paris for safety, and thus experienced the first of what subsequently transpired to be the beginning of a series of persecutions against inventors and their discoveries. Though Kay took his invention to his native town, Bury, it was not much used in the cotton trade until the year 1760, during which year his son, Robert Kay, so improved the original mechanism that the weaver could weave any colour of two or more shades at will. This motion he called the "drop box", which principle is employed to-day not only in the manufacture of fancy woollens, but in most fancy woven fabrics.

Thus it will be understood that the one-thread wheel, though an improvement upon the ancient distaff, was totally inadequate to meet the demand created by the improved methods in weaving. The mode of spinning on this single-thread wheel is not difficult to understand; there were only two operations after the material had been prepared by the hand carder, whose object was and always has been to thoroughly open and disentangle the close and matted locks of wool. The fundamental principle in the "carding" consists in completely separating and disarranging the natural order of the wool fibres, and in rearranging them artificially. The methods adopted to accomplish this object have been very numerous, but our present purpose will be best served by a brief description of the hand cards (see Plate 1 below).

The old hand cards were made of wood, and were usually about one foot long by five inches broad, having a handle about the middle, and were covered with card clothing, the clothing being usually made of thin leather, through which were fixed a considerable number of small wires of equal length and about half an inch long. These wires were bent at a point about midway from the leather foundation, so as to give them a certain amount of spring or elasticity, and their points were ground to a shape which enabled them to either "card" the wool, i.e. pierce it and work it, or strip it from off the card. The simple process consisted in holding one of the cards stationary, say, upon the knee of the person using it, and then filling it with as much wool as could be conveniently worked. The wire points of the other card were now brought into contact with those containing the wool, but held so that the points were opposed in direction to those which were stationary, and the operation was continued until the carder thought that he had sufficiently opened and thoroughly mixed the different lengths of wool fibres, after which the two cards were held in a vertical position, and by a gentle and peculiar working of them, with the wire teeth all pointing in the same direction, the carded wool was made into a roll equal to the length of each card, which was now ready for the spinning wheel (a photograph of two hand cards, together with a roll of prepared wool, is shown in Plate 1 below).

The two operations already referred to in regard to the spinning were roving and spinning. First, the rolls of carded wool were separately applied to the spindle, which was made to revolve by the spinner turning the wheel with the right hand, whilst with the left she held and gradually attenuated the roll of carded wool into thick threads, which were subsequently wound on the spindle and made into "cops", to be afterwards drawn out into a finer thread by a repetition of the above process. By means of the spindle revolving, and one end of the material being held in the spinner's hand, twist was put in at each operation of attenuating the material. Though this method was capable of producing six or seven times the amount of yarn that could be spun by the aid of the distaff, it was, as already shown, incapable of meeting the demands of the weavers. Curiously enough, the time was not now far distant when these two factors should be reversed.

Inventive genius was already contriving a method of spinning by rollers, whereby a considerable number of threads could be made at the same time with a machine which required but one pair of hands to work it. John Wyatt, of Birmingham, appears to have first conceived the idea of this system of spinning about the year 1730, and afterwards, in 1733, he made a model by which he says he spun the first thread ever produced without human fingers. In 1738 Lewis Paul, a foreigner, who became the financial partner of John Wyatt, procured a patent "To make use of and exercise a new invented machine for the spinning of wool and cotton in a manner entirely new", &c. Though Wyatt and Paul used these machines in a spinning mill at Northampton with varying degrees of success, it was left for Richard Arkwright, a poor barber of Preston, to reap the greatest advantage from the invention. By dint of perseverance and inventive ingenuity, Arkwright produced, perfected, and patented a machine in 1769 which, though first used for the spinning of cotton, was afterwards adapted and employed in the woollen trade, and eventually enabled England to supply almost the whole world with the nation's staple industry. Arkwright's ultimate personal reward was fame, position, wealth, and a knighthood. Though he never admitted in the great trials which took place in the year 1785 that he had ever seen the productions of the previous inventors, Wyatt and Paul, yet it is quite probable he had seen a model of Wyatt's, and it is certain that spinning by rollers had been accomplished many years before Arkwright took out his patent, as is proved by Paul's patent previously referred to and also by the following few lines written by Dyer in his poem "The Fleece", published in 1757, which evidently has reference to Paul's machine:

But patient art,
That on experience works from hour to hour,
Sagacious, has a spiral engine form'd,
Which on an hundred spoles, an hundred threads,
With one huge wheel, by lapse of water, twines,
Few hands requiring; easy tended work,
That copiously supplies the greedy loom.

Though Arkwright is not entitled to all the merit which some writers have claimed for him, he possessed very high inventive talent, as well as much sagacity, which is evidenced by his faculty of estimating the true value of the mechanical inventions of others and of combining and perfecting them and so turning them to practical advantage. In his specification of the patent he obtained on July 15, 1769, he recites that he had "by great study and long application invented a new piece of machinery never before found out, practised, or used, for the making of weft or yarn from cotton, flax, or wool, which would be of great utility to a great many manufacturers, by making the said weft or yarn much superior in quality to any heretofore manufactured".

There is yet another spinning invention that will always stand out as a great historical event, and which is always deserving of note in any descriptive history of the development of mechanisms for making yarns and manufacturing cloths. The machine referred to is known as Hargreaves's Spinning Jenny, which was capable of spinning "roving" into yarn. Hargreaves contrived a frame in one part of which he placed eight rovings in a vertical row; similarly, in another part he had a row of eight spindles. The rovings were extended to the spindles and passed between two horizontal bars of wood, which could easily be adjusted to nip and hold the roving threads between them. With the left hand the horizontal bars of wood could be drawn along the horizontal frame for a suitable distance from the spindles, thus attenuating the roving threads; simultaneously the right hand turned a wheel which made all the spindles revolve rapidly, and so the fibres were made to twist round each other during the time of the attenuation of the rovings, by which means the requisite fineness of yarn could be obtained. After each drawing-out, the yarn was wound upon the spindle and the process was repeated. This method differs so completely from either Wyatt's or Arkwright's that there is no doubt about it being a perfectly original invention, and undoubtedly, too, this last invention is the root idea of the modern mule spinning frame, which to-day is probably the most wonderful machine in the whole range of textile mechanics.

Continue to Part 2


Illustrations from the article, and explanation of the plates
[ if you skipped details from the article above, these date from c. 1900 ]

Hand cards - click for enlargement

Plate 1
Two hand cards as used formerly for carding wool. The "working card" on the right was repeatedly drawn through the wool in the "stationary card" held in the left hand. Above these is a roll of carded wool, ready for the one-thread spinning wheel.
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One-thread spinning wheel - click for enlargement

Plate 2
The one-thread spinning wheel. A length of carded wool is shown applied to the spindle, and is ready to be attenuated and twisted to the required fineness of thread for the woollen weaver.
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Primitive method of weaving - click for enlargement

Plate 3
One of the most primitive methods of weaving. The warp is held tightly during the weaving process by means of a strong cord and two stout rods driven into the ground. When the weaver has woven a few inches of cloth he unties the ropes on his right and so lets in some more warp, which thus permits him to wind up the cloth already woven, the operation being repeated until the whole web is woven.
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Hand treadle loom - click for enlargement

Plate 4
The hand treadle loom, with Kay's fly shuttle box. The illustration shows the type and principle of loom employed previous to the invention of the power loom, and which was largely employed for many years afterwards, whilst for weaving special kinds of fabrics it is still used.
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Lengths of staple - click for enlargement

Plate 5
The relative length of "staple" of a few of the very numerous varieties of wool now grown throughout the world.

  • Fig. 1  Port Phillip lambs' wool
  • Fig. 2  Port Phillip sheep's wool
  • Fig. 3  Saxony merino wool
  • Fig. 4  American merino wool
  • Fig. 5  Adelaide wool
  • Fig. 6  Swan River wool
  • Fig. 7  Buenos Ayres wool
  • Fig. 8  Cape mohair wool
  • Fig. 9  Australian cross-bred wool
  • Fig. 10  English (Northern counties) wool
  • Fig. 11  English (Kent) wool
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Woollen mule spinning frame - click for enlargement

Plate 6
The woollen mule spinning frame, which shows conclusively the very extraordinary progress invention has made upon the one-wheel spinning frame, which method was in common use until just over a century ago.
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Power loom - click for enlargement

Plate 7
The modern power loom for weaving heavy woollen, largely used by English and Scots manufacturers. The width of piece can be woven up to 120 inches, and the loom usually runs at 90 picks per minute. It forms an interesting comparison with the type of looms and methods of weaving shown in Plates 3 and 4.
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