78 THE SILK INDUSTRY IN WESSEX. 



these winding factories was at Bradford Abbas in a house 

 owned by William Deering. The first mention of this estab- 

 lishment occurs in June, 1779 ; but it was probably started 

 at an earlier date, as the series of account books is not com- 

 plete. The latest reference to Bradford is in February, 1784. 



Another silk-house was in Dorchester ; but I have been 

 unable to identify the site of the factory. The earliest entry 

 referring to the county town is in June, 1780, when money 

 for wages was sent there from Sherborne. Fifty persons 

 were employed in 1784, and I read in a letter of July, 1788, 

 that " my hands at Dorchester are standing still at my ex- 

 pense " for want of silk. Here, also, some of the work- 

 people were " those of the parish," who were paid w r hether 

 they worked or stood idle. The existence of this industry 

 in Dorchester seems to have escaped the notice of the his- 

 torians of the eighteenth century. 



The house at Cerne Abbas has been already mentioned 

 in the foregoing pages, and there is no doubt that silk winding 

 was continued, with varying fortunes, until about 1810 or 

 even later. In November, 1780, Willmott bought from 

 " farmer Cockram " for 70 his interest in certain premises 

 in that parish, which were presumably an addition to the 

 accommodation at the Isle Hall. In every week wages 

 money was sent to Cerne and Dorchester, the amounts 

 averaging about 10 to 12, of which the former place probably 

 absorbed the larger share. Each of these silk-houses was 

 placed in charge of a mistress, and the appliances used are 

 described as " Spanish engines," which did not require water 

 power. 



At present I have quoted extracts from the two letter books 

 (1772-81) in the possession of Mr. Arnold Wright, and from 

 the original letters of the same period which are in the collec- 

 tion at the Dorset County Museum. I will now turn to our 

 letter books which begin in 1782. 



Silk-throwing had been established in Taunton at a mill 

 on the Sherford stream, a tributary of the Tone, and 

 Willmott had helped the owners, Paul and Vansomer, in 



