278 



Cloth Manufactuek 



It would be interesting to discover when this was first est.abhshed 

 in Twerton. The neighbourhood has since the time of Chaucer 

 been famous for this form of industry : 



" A good Wif -was tlier of byside Bathe, 



But sche was somdel deef, and that was skathe. 

 Of cloth-makyng sche hadde such an haunt, 

 Sche passed hem of Ypris and of Craunt." 



King Edward III., who was friendly to Bath, did much for the 

 encouragement of trade in wool. In 1331 he invited men from 

 Flanders, who introduced some new manufacture of cloth. Later 

 he appointed certain towns as markets for wool ; Bristol was one. 

 Noblemen and members of the Koyal family speculated in the 

 trade. In the close of the 13th centuiy the weirs were ordered to 

 be removed from the River Avon that the navigation might not be 

 interrupted, and this was repeated in later years. 



In 1659 a coarse kind of cloth, a sort of diiigget, having been 

 hitherto made, a leading clothier in Bradford obtained some 

 spinners from Holland for the purpose of obtaining through them 

 the secrets of the manufacture of the finer kinds of cloth. A gi-eat 

 deal of trouble was caused by the fear lest they should become 

 burdensome to the parish, and the place where they lived was called 

 the " Dutch Barton." In 1674 Mr. Wm. Brewer gave a bond of 

 £100 to save harmless the parish of Bradford against the " Dutch- 

 men." * 



In 1699 Wm Cox is mentioned in the Twerton Registers as a 

 "clothier." In 1722 and on to 1732 there are notices of the 

 interments of various " Dutchmen," such as John Jockman, John 

 Brick, Thos. Michner, John Graft, and in the Church is a tablet to 

 " Nicholas Graft, of Veit." In 1729 Mr. Sperin was a drugget 

 maker, and in 1761 we have mention of no less than six different 

 trades carried on at the mills, among which were cloth, grist, edge- 

 tool, and leather-dressing. The cloth was manufactured by a Mr. 

 Brown. He was succeeded by his son, then by Mr. Naish, afterwards 

 by Mr. Cooke, who, according to Warner, " employed 300 adults 

 and 80 children, taking the latter from the Workhouse from 8 to 



* See Jones'8 History of Bradford, "Wilts. Arch. Mag. 



