NORWICH AND DISTRICT INDUSTRIES 97 
“called Sattins and Damasks’ which (ordinarily made from worsted 
yarn) had specially added to them a small quantity of silk to secure the 
allowance made on ‘all silk fabrics.’ By 1790 a considerable export 
trade had been built up, and Norwich textiles constituted 7 per cent. 
of the total export trade, the goods being sent chiefly to Russia, America, 
and China. 
The manufacture of crape, in common use at public mournings, was 
an important industry in the early part of the nineteenth century. The 
old Norwich crape was a‘ bombazine’ containing a silk warp and worsted 
weft, twill weave and dyed black, but various kinds of crape were intro- 
duced from time to time, one example which became very popular being 
a silk and worsted article known as a ‘ tammet weave.’ This was adopted 
as a standard dress material and, when dyed in a variety of colours, could 
vie with the finest satins. 
The manufacture of mourning crape is still an important industry, 
although it is exclusively an export trade. Norwich crape at the present 
time consists of a thin silk gauze stiffened and embossed by being passed 
over a heated roller on which the ‘ figure’ is engraved. 
In recent years there has been a gradual tendency towards the production 
of finer woven cloths. One of the most important productions is weighted 
all-silk fabric—georgette, crépe de Chine, marocains, satins, etc. 
Originating in France, the weighting of silk with tin salts was at one 
time done entirely by hand, but is now done by special modern machines. 
The whole of the operations, starting with the raw silk fibre to the 
dyed and finished fabric, are carried out in the factories of Messrs. Fras. 
Hinde & Hardy, Ltd. Each of these operations is highly specialised 
and the strictest control is enforced, which ensures perfect results in the 
finished fabric. 
Dress materials made of artificial silk constitute another important 
branch of the textile trade. High-class crépe fabrics are experiencing 
an ever-increasing demand, and practically every known variety of cloth 
is produced in these factories. 
A large number of Norwich shoe manufacturers are to-day using 
Norwich fabrics for the uppers of ladies’ shoes, and a considerable business 
is also done with other manufacturers all over the country, as well as in 
the dominions and colonies. In spite of the severe competition from 
abroad the prospects of an increasing trade were never better. 
(ec) PRINTING 
Norwich was one of the earliest of the provincial cities to introduce the 
art of printing from movable type after its invention by Caxton. The 
first printer was Anthony de Solempne, a Dutch refugee from Brabant, 
who set up a press in St. Andrew’s parish in 1567 and was admitted a 
freeman in December 1570. In addition to his trade as master printer, 
he also carried on business as a wine merchant. He appears to have been 
mostly concerned in printing books for the use of the Dutch congregation 
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