A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



Robert Lovet, and John Loughborough. 4 In 

 1434 we find the dyer's craft of Nottingham 

 figuring in a suit wherein Simon Ilkeston, 

 mercer, of that town, appeared as plaintiff, the 

 defendant being The mas Stretton, dyer, who had 

 agreed to ' dye or tinge or colour ' for the said 

 Simon a pack of woollen cloths, comprising, it 

 would appear, ten pieces ' of the make of Not- 

 tingham,' and the same number of pieces of 

 ' North country cloth,' six of the pieces to be 

 blue, six red, and six green, whilst two pieces 

 were to be dyed ' murrey or tawney,' all to be 

 'of good and equal colour.' Ilkeston had paid ^4 

 beforehand for the execution of the order, but 

 Stretton had broken his covenant, to the ' great 

 loss and damage' of the mercer.' In 1435, ac- 

 cording to the accounts of Richard Smyth, the 

 Bishop of Lincoln's bailiff at Newark, John 

 Wakeman, litster, paid 2d. new rent for waste 

 of land between his own and the water of 

 Trent. 6 



Of considerable value to the dyers' trade was 

 the meadow saffron, or autumn crocus, 7 which 

 still grows wild in the meadows near Crankley 

 Point at Newark, and which was largely culti- 

 vated in mediaeval times by the chantry priests 

 of Newark. In this connexion the will, dated 

 21 March 1466, of William Boston, chaplain, 

 of Newark, is of interest. It contains bequests 

 to Thomas Hette and Johan his sister of ' a 

 garden planted cum croco,' lying at the east end 

 adjoining the chancel of Newark, also of ' all 

 heads of crocus planted in my garden at the end 

 of the Appilton Gate, except 6 quarters.' 8 At 

 a later date there was also at hand for the dyers' 

 trade of the county weld, or dyer's weed, which 

 was largely grown around Scrooby, Ranskill, and 

 Torworth, in quantities varying with the de- 

 mand. Prices ranged from 31. per stone (14 Ib.) 

 to ^24 per ton. Towards the close of the 

 1 8th century they had declined to 5 6s. 8d. per 

 ton. 9 



It was formerly the custom for Nottingham 

 dyers to hang their cloths when dyed from posts 

 fixed to the front of the houses, but owing to 

 complaints received from shopkeepers and house- 

 holders, the practice was forbidden, i April 1625, 

 as ' it blinds many booths and other shops.' 10 

 The cloths were in future to be hung close to 

 the wall. A ' stoope,' or sign-post of Mr. Hum- 



4 Stevenson, op. cit. i, 273. 



5 Ibid. 137. 



6 Brown, Hist. Newark, 192. 



' It has been suggested (Notts, and Derb. N. and Q. 

 Dec. 1 897, p. 182) that the crocus nudijlorus, which is a 

 native of the Pyrenees, but which is found within 

 certain well-defined limits in the midlands, was im- 

 ported into its alien surroundings by monastic 

 immigrants. 



8 Brown, op. cit. 353. 



' Lowe, Agric. of Notts. 1 4. 



10 Rec. Boro. Nott. v, 277-8. 



phrey Greaves was ordered to be taken down to 

 prevent dyers hanging cloth thereon. 11 Accord- 

 ing to the first Nottingham Directory ls there 

 were fifteen dyers in the town in ijgg. 18 A 

 special branch of the dyeing trade of Nottingham 

 after the advent of the stocking-frame was the 

 dyeing of goods made in Leicester, Mr. Elliott, a 

 well-known dyer, charging 3*. 6d. per dozen 

 pairs for dyeing hose black. 14 



The modern application of the art in Notting- 

 ham is concerned with the dyeing of hose, &c., 

 also of yarn, a special red dye, however, being 

 supplied for the latter by Scotch dyers. 



In 1579 we find a petition presented by the 

 Mickletorn jury that a bleaching-ground should 

 be provided for the town, ' ther being a com- 

 mon piece of ground beyond the new bridge fit 

 for the purpose.' 16 In 1593 the mayor was 

 presented for ' letting the bleaching ground from 

 the town.' 16 In 1641 there was one bleacher 

 in Nottingham. 17 In 1659 we find certain 

 Nottingham bleachers named Anne Gregory, 

 Mary Hearson, Robert Allicocke, and Thomas 

 Elnor, ordered to be suited ' for laying and 

 bleaching of cloth in the common meadows after 

 Midsummer Day during the commonable time, 

 to the loss and prejudice of the commoners and 

 in hindrance of their just right and usage of the 

 common.' 18 On 18 June 1660 it was ordered 

 that a warrant for the discharge of the bleachers 

 at Leenside should be sent to them, thereby 

 charging them that they and every of them 

 remove and take away all their cloths on or 

 before 25 June, the like warrant and discharge 

 being sent to the bleachers in the fields, who were 

 to remove their cloths by i August. The 

 'warrant and discharge seems to have been 

 ignored, for on 7 August we find an order made 

 to take action against persons ' laying to bleach ' 

 linen cloths in the meadows when the latter were 

 'lying in common.' 19 On 24 June 1668 the 

 bleachers were ordered to remove their cloths 

 from the Leenside by i July following, so that 

 the burgesses might have liberty and use of their 

 common. 20 In 1688 Widow Hazard was pre- 

 sented by the Mickletorn jury ' for a bleach - 

 house and two wells,' and fined 5*. 21 Deering 

 states that there were eight bleachers of linen 

 cloth in Nottingham in his time. 22 The opera- 

 tions of the bleaching industry were considerably 

 extended by the introduction of lace-making. 

 Cheap competition in the lace trade was 

 greatly facilitated, we are told, by the introduc- 

 tion in 1828 of chemical bleaching, there being 

 at that date from twelve to fifteen establishments 



11 Ibid, iv, 278. " Willoughby's. " Op. cit. 80. 



14 Gardiner, Music and Friends, ii, 8 1 o. 



"Rec. Boro. Nott. iv, 189. 16 Ibid. 238. 



17 Deering, Nottingkamia, 94. 



19 Rec. Boro. Nott. v, 125. " Ibid. 305-6. 



"Ibid. 314. " Ibid, iv, 253. 



** Deering, Nottinghamia, 94. 



348 



