For many centuries before the age of machinery the five counties which make up the south west corner of England, apart from Cornwall, were home to textile industries of national and international importance. The contributions to the national economy of both the Devon serge industry and the woollen cloth industry of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire are well known, while Dorset and Somerset produced, inter alia, the sail cloth, rope and nets which sustained not only local but also more far flung fisheries, including the incredibly productive Newfoundland fishery. All embraced the factory age, adopting new powered machinery while still preserving aspects of the old outworking nature of production. And, in the nineteenth century, these staples were augmented by new textile industries of silk, lace and hosiery as older markets shrank or as entrepreneurs from the midlands and north, such as John Heathcoat, spotted unused plant and a plentiful, cheaper and more quiescent skilled workforce.
Yet while the age of machinery changed the face of many old out-working centres, it also marked the beginning of protracted decay for the textile industries of the region. While water power might, as in Gloucestershire, be as productive as anywhere, in the age of steam cheaper fuel, superior communications and better finance networks gave a marked advantage to rivals in the north. The serge industry faded early and by the mid nineteenth century fine woollens were in steepening decline. While in all localities some manufactures soldiered on well into the next century, the west was clearly in debilitating economic eclipse. This decline has, however, bequeathed us a surprisingly rich heritage in old industrial buildings. While in the booming north old plant was replaced or sacrificed to new productive uses, entrepreneurs in the south west generally struggled to find capital and, when profitability slackened, there was less encouragement to replace buildings wholesale. So they were gradually adapted, modestly improved or let to alternative uses. And, since there was no great demand for the space they occupied, there they have often remained. They represent a treasure trove for historians and industrial archaeologists, as Mike Williams’ excellent volume demonstrates.
This book has its origins in the meticulous work of both English Heritage and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and combines both detailed study of individual extant mills and other industrial buildings with a broader description of the industrial development of the region. It builds upon earlier pioneering work by historians such as Jennifer Tann and Ken Rogers whose gazetteers identified and provided the historical context for surviving and long gone woollen mills in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire respectively. But Williams, as noted, takes a broader canvas and also brings to light the more neglected industrial histories of lace, silk, rope, sail and net making and, through their surviving contributions to vernacular architecture, clearly shows the ways in which all these trades have shaped the landscape. Moreover, backed by the formidable resources of those august bodies, his book is able to bring that heritage vividly to life through a rich array of high quality photographs, both modern and archival, reproductions of contemporary prints, superb maps and technical drawings which are liberally scattered throughout. This beautifully produced and highly informative volume marks a most welcome contribution to the study of the textile industries of the south west of England.
