
3798.1] 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
sIR, 
MONGST all the various articles of ~ 
information, which compofe your 
nféful mifcellany, none have a ftronger 
claim to the attention of the true lover of. 
his country, than thofe which relate to the 
manufaétures of this kingdom. 
{peculative inquirer they will ferve to un- 
fold the caufes of that vaft wealth, flow- 
ing firft into the main trunks of commerce, 
from thence diffufed into ten thoufand 
fmaller -ftreams, and ftill proceeding 
through an infinite number of minute ra- 
mifications; and to the ftatefman, who 
fall contemplate the prefent fate of our 
manufaétories, languid and decaying, 
they cannot fail to exhibit a ftriking proof 
of the dreadful effets of war. Few pof- 
fefs the ability to give to a fubjeé of this 
nature fo much intereft as is to be found 
in Dr. Aikin’s Hittory of the manufac- 
tories of Manchefter, and its vicinity ; 
neither does any manufactory afford fo 
many advantageous circumftances to em- 
bellifh a dry narrative. . The manufac- 
tures-of Norwich require but little ma- 
chinery : only that of the moft common 
kind is ufed, fo that this account can be 
enlivened by no details of that fort. 
‘That the county of Norfolk was famous 
for the manufacture of Wool from the 
earlieft period, when that art came to be 
known in this ifland, may be fairly con- 
cluded from the circumftance of its ftill 
retaining the primitive mode of fpinning 
wool with the ancient fpindle and ditaff; 
a practice unknown, I believe, in every 
other part of the kingdom*. In the reign 
of Henry the Ift. an inundation having 
caufed many of the Flemings to quit 
their country, part of them are fuppofed 
to have landed in this country, and to 
have fettled at Worftead, wow an obfcure 
town in it, which is {aid to have given its 
name? to the clafs of manufa&tures, which 
originated therein, and foon fpread 
through its neighbourhood, till Norwich 
became their head quarters. ‘That they 
began to be of fome confequence in the 
reign of Edward II. appears, trom a pa- 
tent granted to John Pecock, for the mea- 
furing every piece of avorffed made in the 
city of Norwich, or the county of Nor- 
folk ; but which, being found to check 
and deprefs the rifing {pirit of the trade, 
was foon after recalled. Other laws for 
rerulating the fale of thefe cvarffeds, were 
enaéted in the reign of Richard II. and 


* Tt is till ufed in Portugal. 
MonrTauy Mac. No, XXxIx. 
Hiktory of Norwich Manufactures. 
To the 
£08 
the manufa&tory continued to increafe 
during the fucceeding reigns; fo that, ac~ 
cording to Blomfield (the Hiftorian of 
Norfolk), the fale of ftuffs made in Nor- 
wichonly, in the reign of Henry VIII, 
amounted to 100,000], annually, betides 
ftockings, -which were computed at 
60,000]. more. At this early period of 
our manufactory, it was judged neceflary 
for fupporting its credit, to appoint offi- 
cers whofe buiinefs it fhou!d be to infpect 
the goods ; and by an act paffed the 23d 
Henry VI. c. 4. tour wardens were or- 
dered to be chofen for the city of Nor- 
wich, and other four for the county of 
Norfolk“ to do right and make due fearch 
of worfleads in Norwich and Norfolk, and 
which foall fet down orders for the true mak-= 
zng thereof; and it having been difcovered 
“ that divers perfons iz Norwich, and 
Norfolk, make watrue wares, by which 
means they lofe their ancient efimation be- 
yond fea,’ Gc.—The number of wardens 
or each department, were, by a ftatute of 
Edward IV. increafed from four to eight. 
From this it appears that the ftuifs made 
at this time in this city, had found their 
way into foreign countries, moft proba- 
bly into Holland and Flanders, and on 
account of the advantages which the na- 
tion already derived from the manufacture 
of its wools, the policy of keeping that 
commodity at home began to be more 
and more apparent, and accordingly par- 
tial reftriStions were laid upon its expor- 
tation. Not only did thefe manufactures 
flourifh in Norwich, and in the town of 
Worttead, (where they firft teok root) but 
we find, by an af pafled in the rath 
Henry VIII. ‘+ that the making of worf- 
teads, fates, and flammins, which bad greatly 
increafed in the city of Norwich and coun- 
ty of Norfolk, was now praSied more 
bufily and diligextly than in times paft at 
Yarmouth and Lyna;’—the wardens of 
thofe towns were therefore put under the 
jurifdiction ef Nerwich. If any regard 
may be paid to the preamble of an ac 
of parliament pafled in this reign, the 
county of Norfcik produced a breed of 
theep, and from their wool fabricated a 
kind of woritead yarn, peculiar to itfelf ; 
this aét, to which I allude, affects, <* that 
worftead yarn is the private commodity of 
the city of Norwich, and the county of 
Norfolk, i. e. fpun of the wool growing, 
and of fheep bred, only within the county 
of Norfolk, aad in no place elfeackere.’- 
What were the peculiar qualities of this 
yarn made from Norfolk wool, it is not 
eafy now to deterrnine; but, if the thee 
were of the fame /oort-evooled kind, which 
3G now 
