Cloth Trade in Box Alan Payne December 2024
Ashley Leigh: Could this be the location of the Salter weaving family? Photo courtesy Carol Payne
Rural Wiltshire became very wealthy in the 16th and 17th centuries because of its involvement in the manufacture of cloth. There were numerous references to cloth-making at Bradford-on-Avon, Slaughterford, Devizes and Castle Combe. At the fringes of Box, Weavern and Widdenham Mills were reported as fulling mills in the late 1600s.[1]
There are few mentions of the cloth trade in Box; yet it is improbable that Box would have declined the economic opportunity that cloth manufacture offered. This article reconsiders our knowledge about the local area, starting with the details of the Victorian use of the ByBrook in the industry, then considering the evidence in reverse chronological order.
Victorian Fulling at Box Mill
After the trade had declined locally and moved to the north of England, we have a sudden reference to cloth-making in Box. In 1841 William Marks was described as Fuller, in other words he worked at a mill used in the cloth-making industry. The water mill was used to clean and thicken wool immersed in fuller’s earth using wooden hammers driven by the mill wheel to pound the material. This use is confirmed in the 1840 Tithe Apportionment which records that William Pinchin owned Fulling Mill House and let out the mill to John Phillips, Esq, for a rent of £4.17s.8d.[2] The Apportionment map shows reference 129 included the Fulling Mill house, outbuildings, two dwelling houses (cottages) and yard. Reference 129a was the garden to the house and at 128 the meadow adjoining the weir, possibly used to graze the horses needed at the mill. The use of the mill for fulling was probably short-lived from 1833.[3]
Fulling mills required considerably more power than corn mills and a fall in pressure would have been serious. This knowledge gives significance to a newspaper report of 1835 when William Pinchin and JL Phillips of the same address joined with Thomas Browning and William James, respectively of Drewetts Mill and Cutting Mill to threaten prosecution of individuals diverting the watercourse of the By Brook.[4] In other words, the mill owners needed more water to drive their mills rather than divert the flow for agriculture. To compensate for the reduced water flow, the mill pond was kept deliberately high but in 1849 it had tragic consequences when James Hancock aged eight was drowned in the back water.[5] Perhaps the low flow was the reason why the mill later returned to corn milling and by 1851 the mill was restored to corn-grinding, operated by George Liles, miller, with Charles Hancock, thirteen year-old miller's apprentice, and Thomas Pater, carter miller. Box mill never returned to fulling and in 1870 William Pinchin the younger put out a notice that he had let his mill and Mealing Business to Mr Joseph Little.[6] Joseph Little confirmed this saying that he had largely increased the stock to supply flour, barley meal, oat, beans etc.[7]
Patients at Kingsdown House
There are several references to weavers at Kingsdown Asylum in the 1800s and early 1900s. Some may have been local to Box but others were outsiders seeking treatment in Box. Jeremiah Jones, weaver, was released from the Asylum in 1833, apparently well but most residents died in the house, including Susan Jeans, weaver’s wife, in 1847; John James, weaver, in 1851; Murdoch Jamieson, criminal weaver in 1856; and Ann King, weaver, in 1869. Several residents are called woollen cloth weaver and one in 1859 was a power loom weaver.
Church References to Weavers
The Asylum evidence is uncertain but there are several baptisms referring to people working as weavers in the 1700s and 1800s. The details are brief, most relating to births, deaths and baptisms, such as:
1701 Baptism of Robert Bancroft, son of John Bancroft weaver
1703 Baptism of James Bancroft, son of John Bancroft weaver
1701 Richard Pillinger, son of James Pillinger, weaver
1704 John Stodden, weaver, was buried at Box Church
1828 Ann Scott, daughter of John Scott, weaver, baptised
1828 Ann Maria Scott, daughter of John Scott, weaver, baptised
1822 Thomas Silverthorn, son of Charles Silverthorn, weaver, baptised
1895 Eliza Amelia Wadham, daughter of Samuel Wadham, weaver, baptised
Weaving Apprenticeships
There were several tasks for apprentices to learn in cloth manufacturing: cleaning and carding raw wool; spinning into yarn; weaving the yarn into cloth; fulling the cloth; and finally dyeing. The work involved the whole family with children cleaning and carding; women usually spinning; and men operating looms and fulling the cloth. By the 1700s much of the profit went outside the village, with merchants controlled the process by owning the material. Medly cloth was dyed before spinning and became on of the dominant types of cloth along the By Brook valley by the late 1600s.
Throughout the 1700s there are references to apprenticeships in the weaving trade with children being placed outside the village. This included 1733 James Stodden of Box apprenticed to Joseph Newman, weaver, of Whitely in 1733 and Anne Smith of Box apprenticed to Thomas Fricker, weaver, of Colerne in 1754. Sometimes families wanted to place their children in the trade. Joanna Selwood was apprenticed to John Houltshut, weaver, both of Box in 1742; and Mary Selwood of Box apprenticed to Isaac Wooley, weaver of Bradford-on-Avon in 1740.
There are also a few references to weavers in the village, including Edward White, master broad (loom) weaver, of Box who took Henry Sims of Steeple Ashton as an apprentice for £4 in 1718; and Edward Gay who was apprenticed to a weaver at Washwells in 1796.[8]
There are few mentions of the cloth trade in Box; yet it is improbable that Box would have declined the economic opportunity that cloth manufacture offered. This article reconsiders our knowledge about the local area, starting with the details of the Victorian use of the ByBrook in the industry, then considering the evidence in reverse chronological order.
Victorian Fulling at Box Mill
After the trade had declined locally and moved to the north of England, we have a sudden reference to cloth-making in Box. In 1841 William Marks was described as Fuller, in other words he worked at a mill used in the cloth-making industry. The water mill was used to clean and thicken wool immersed in fuller’s earth using wooden hammers driven by the mill wheel to pound the material. This use is confirmed in the 1840 Tithe Apportionment which records that William Pinchin owned Fulling Mill House and let out the mill to John Phillips, Esq, for a rent of £4.17s.8d.[2] The Apportionment map shows reference 129 included the Fulling Mill house, outbuildings, two dwelling houses (cottages) and yard. Reference 129a was the garden to the house and at 128 the meadow adjoining the weir, possibly used to graze the horses needed at the mill. The use of the mill for fulling was probably short-lived from 1833.[3]
Fulling mills required considerably more power than corn mills and a fall in pressure would have been serious. This knowledge gives significance to a newspaper report of 1835 when William Pinchin and JL Phillips of the same address joined with Thomas Browning and William James, respectively of Drewetts Mill and Cutting Mill to threaten prosecution of individuals diverting the watercourse of the By Brook.[4] In other words, the mill owners needed more water to drive their mills rather than divert the flow for agriculture. To compensate for the reduced water flow, the mill pond was kept deliberately high but in 1849 it had tragic consequences when James Hancock aged eight was drowned in the back water.[5] Perhaps the low flow was the reason why the mill later returned to corn milling and by 1851 the mill was restored to corn-grinding, operated by George Liles, miller, with Charles Hancock, thirteen year-old miller's apprentice, and Thomas Pater, carter miller. Box mill never returned to fulling and in 1870 William Pinchin the younger put out a notice that he had let his mill and Mealing Business to Mr Joseph Little.[6] Joseph Little confirmed this saying that he had largely increased the stock to supply flour, barley meal, oat, beans etc.[7]
Patients at Kingsdown House
There are several references to weavers at Kingsdown Asylum in the 1800s and early 1900s. Some may have been local to Box but others were outsiders seeking treatment in Box. Jeremiah Jones, weaver, was released from the Asylum in 1833, apparently well but most residents died in the house, including Susan Jeans, weaver’s wife, in 1847; John James, weaver, in 1851; Murdoch Jamieson, criminal weaver in 1856; and Ann King, weaver, in 1869. Several residents are called woollen cloth weaver and one in 1859 was a power loom weaver.
Church References to Weavers
The Asylum evidence is uncertain but there are several baptisms referring to people working as weavers in the 1700s and 1800s. The details are brief, most relating to births, deaths and baptisms, such as:
1701 Baptism of Robert Bancroft, son of John Bancroft weaver
1703 Baptism of James Bancroft, son of John Bancroft weaver
1701 Richard Pillinger, son of James Pillinger, weaver
1704 John Stodden, weaver, was buried at Box Church
1828 Ann Scott, daughter of John Scott, weaver, baptised
1828 Ann Maria Scott, daughter of John Scott, weaver, baptised
1822 Thomas Silverthorn, son of Charles Silverthorn, weaver, baptised
1895 Eliza Amelia Wadham, daughter of Samuel Wadham, weaver, baptised
Weaving Apprenticeships
There were several tasks for apprentices to learn in cloth manufacturing: cleaning and carding raw wool; spinning into yarn; weaving the yarn into cloth; fulling the cloth; and finally dyeing. The work involved the whole family with children cleaning and carding; women usually spinning; and men operating looms and fulling the cloth. By the 1700s much of the profit went outside the village, with merchants controlled the process by owning the material. Medly cloth was dyed before spinning and became on of the dominant types of cloth along the By Brook valley by the late 1600s.
Throughout the 1700s there are references to apprenticeships in the weaving trade with children being placed outside the village. This included 1733 James Stodden of Box apprenticed to Joseph Newman, weaver, of Whitely in 1733 and Anne Smith of Box apprenticed to Thomas Fricker, weaver, of Colerne in 1754. Sometimes families wanted to place their children in the trade. Joanna Selwood was apprenticed to John Houltshut, weaver, both of Box in 1742; and Mary Selwood of Box apprenticed to Isaac Wooley, weaver of Bradford-on-Avon in 1740.
There are also a few references to weavers in the village, including Edward White, master broad (loom) weaver, of Box who took Henry Sims of Steeple Ashton as an apprentice for £4 in 1718; and Edward Gay who was apprenticed to a weaver at Washwells in 1796.[8]
Box Workhouse near St Thomas a Becket Church (courtesy Carol Payne)
Box Workhouse Residents
The workhouse in Church Lane was another Box institution which had several weaving residents as itemised in the inventory of equipment in 1729: 12 spinning turns (wheels), 1 snap reel, 2 scribbling horses (for combing) and 2 looms.[9] Putting the residents to meaningful occupations was clearly beneficial for all but there was an additional reason. The provision of clothing for paupers in the workhouse was a cost on the parish and residents were encouraged to spin and weave to provide their own clothes.
The most fascinating reference is about the materials used for clothing in the workhouse: 5 yards of Lynsey and ½ ell (measure of length) of linen to make a gown for Deborah Salter. This gives us a direct reference to a well-known family of weavers in Box at the start of the 1700s, the Salter family.
Salter Family of Box Weavers
We get closer to the involvement of Box in the Georgian cloth industry through the Salter family, albeit that we only get tantalising glimpses of their weaving business. They were outworkers, taking in wool skeins and weaving it on handlooms. The family lived in Box although we haven’t found their actual house. If I were asked to speculate, I would suggest in the Market Place as their lifestyle seems to be without a garden. However, Ashley Leigh has always been associated with weaving and would be adequate to house the whole family.[10]
The parents and mature sons may have shared the same premises and different looms. In other words, they existed as a multi-generational family group. We see how the family trained their children in the weaving industry when John Salter, weaver, apprenticed his son, also John Salter, to James Bond, boddice-maker of Corsham in 1689. John Salter senior appears to have been born in 1652 to parents Henry and Ann, all Box residents. Henry took in apprentices including John Head of Box in 1694. Debora Salter was the daughter of Henry and Ann, born in 1696. She died in 1733, so the gown made at Box Workhouse four years earlier was perhaps when she was unable to manufacture herself.
One weaver in the family, William, possibly baptised in 1665, the son of Henry and Ann Salter, may have become a master weaver, designing and selling his creations to wealthy clients. He married Marie West in 1689 and probably took over the family business. William and Marie had various children including Henry (born 1691), William (born 1698), Ann (born 1701) and Jane (born 1702). William’s relative Henry weaver married Anne and they had children Henry Salter junior (baptised 1702), Unity (born 1691 and died 1702). Ann, widow of Henry Salter, weaver, died 1703.
Dissenting Weavers
The Salter family were staunch Anglicans but traditionally, weaving was associated with nonconformists, particularly Quakers. The father of the Society of Friends, George Fox, was a weaver from Leicestershire. The famous local incident was in 1603 when, outside Box Church, Christopher Butler of Box, weaver, and John Humpryes of (probably Rudloe) denydd the booke of Common prayer and the book of the Omiles saying that there could be no edification for the people by them and that the unpreaching minister could not rightly nor had noe power to administer the Sacrament.[11]
We don’t really know why the trade was associated with nonconformism. It may be that the self-employed weavers adopted independent financial and religious beliefs. The argument in this case was to deny the presence of Christ in the sacrament of communion. The dissenters believed that communion was symbolic only, not a magical conversion by the priest behind the rood screen in the chancel.
The workhouse in Church Lane was another Box institution which had several weaving residents as itemised in the inventory of equipment in 1729: 12 spinning turns (wheels), 1 snap reel, 2 scribbling horses (for combing) and 2 looms.[9] Putting the residents to meaningful occupations was clearly beneficial for all but there was an additional reason. The provision of clothing for paupers in the workhouse was a cost on the parish and residents were encouraged to spin and weave to provide their own clothes.
The most fascinating reference is about the materials used for clothing in the workhouse: 5 yards of Lynsey and ½ ell (measure of length) of linen to make a gown for Deborah Salter. This gives us a direct reference to a well-known family of weavers in Box at the start of the 1700s, the Salter family.
Salter Family of Box Weavers
We get closer to the involvement of Box in the Georgian cloth industry through the Salter family, albeit that we only get tantalising glimpses of their weaving business. They were outworkers, taking in wool skeins and weaving it on handlooms. The family lived in Box although we haven’t found their actual house. If I were asked to speculate, I would suggest in the Market Place as their lifestyle seems to be without a garden. However, Ashley Leigh has always been associated with weaving and would be adequate to house the whole family.[10]
The parents and mature sons may have shared the same premises and different looms. In other words, they existed as a multi-generational family group. We see how the family trained their children in the weaving industry when John Salter, weaver, apprenticed his son, also John Salter, to James Bond, boddice-maker of Corsham in 1689. John Salter senior appears to have been born in 1652 to parents Henry and Ann, all Box residents. Henry took in apprentices including John Head of Box in 1694. Debora Salter was the daughter of Henry and Ann, born in 1696. She died in 1733, so the gown made at Box Workhouse four years earlier was perhaps when she was unable to manufacture herself.
One weaver in the family, William, possibly baptised in 1665, the son of Henry and Ann Salter, may have become a master weaver, designing and selling his creations to wealthy clients. He married Marie West in 1689 and probably took over the family business. William and Marie had various children including Henry (born 1691), William (born 1698), Ann (born 1701) and Jane (born 1702). William’s relative Henry weaver married Anne and they had children Henry Salter junior (baptised 1702), Unity (born 1691 and died 1702). Ann, widow of Henry Salter, weaver, died 1703.
Dissenting Weavers
The Salter family were staunch Anglicans but traditionally, weaving was associated with nonconformists, particularly Quakers. The father of the Society of Friends, George Fox, was a weaver from Leicestershire. The famous local incident was in 1603 when, outside Box Church, Christopher Butler of Box, weaver, and John Humpryes of (probably Rudloe) denydd the booke of Common prayer and the book of the Omiles saying that there could be no edification for the people by them and that the unpreaching minister could not rightly nor had noe power to administer the Sacrament.[11]
We don’t really know why the trade was associated with nonconformism. It may be that the self-employed weavers adopted independent financial and religious beliefs. The argument in this case was to deny the presence of Christ in the sacrament of communion. The dissenters believed that communion was symbolic only, not a magical conversion by the priest behind the rood screen in the chancel.
Conclusion
The Victorian references to the wool trade in Box are just remnants of the historic Tudor and Stuart industry. They are uncertain residues like place name evidence, such as Weaver’s Hays (plot 694) in the 1840 Tithe Apportionment details, owned by WJ Brown. Weaver Cottages were referred to in 1921 at Upper Rudloe, occupied by Francis Thomas Smith, farm labourer, and Edward Wilkins, carter and his family.
Box was never heavily dependant on the clothing trade because the local mills were not used in the industry except for the period 1833-41. Mill owners never built terraces of weaver’s cottages for their workers. Yet the industry dominated many aspects of life in the Georgian village. Box was an out-working village where a few families set themselves up to take in materials and produce garments for sale. It is in the homes of residents that we find evidence of cloth manufacturing. We see people like the Salter family only occasionally.
The Victorian references to the wool trade in Box are just remnants of the historic Tudor and Stuart industry. They are uncertain residues like place name evidence, such as Weaver’s Hays (plot 694) in the 1840 Tithe Apportionment details, owned by WJ Brown. Weaver Cottages were referred to in 1921 at Upper Rudloe, occupied by Francis Thomas Smith, farm labourer, and Edward Wilkins, carter and his family.
Box was never heavily dependant on the clothing trade because the local mills were not used in the industry except for the period 1833-41. Mill owners never built terraces of weaver’s cottages for their workers. Yet the industry dominated many aspects of life in the Georgian village. Box was an out-working village where a few families set themselves up to take in materials and produce garments for sale. It is in the homes of residents that we find evidence of cloth manufacturing. We see people like the Salter family only occasionally.
References
[1] Ken Tatem, A History of the By Brook, Environment Agency
[2] Tithe Apportionment records, Wiltshire History Centre
[3] Claire Higgens, Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, p.39
[4] The Bath Chronicle, 13 August 1835
[5] The Wiltshire Gazette, 17 May 1849
[6] The Wiltshire Independent, 28 April 1870
[7] The Bath Chronicle, 28 April 1870
[8] Claire Higgens Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, p.39
[9] Claire Higgens, Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, p.87
[10] See Ashley Leigh - Box People and Places
[11] BH Cunnington Great Rolls WRO/A1/110, published 1932
[1] Ken Tatem, A History of the By Brook, Environment Agency
[2] Tithe Apportionment records, Wiltshire History Centre
[3] Claire Higgens, Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, p.39
[4] The Bath Chronicle, 13 August 1835
[5] The Wiltshire Gazette, 17 May 1849
[6] The Wiltshire Independent, 28 April 1870
[7] The Bath Chronicle, 28 April 1870
[8] Claire Higgens Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, p.39
[9] Claire Higgens, Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, p.87
[10] See Ashley Leigh - Box People and Places
[11] BH Cunnington Great Rolls WRO/A1/110, published 1932