Textile Trail
We’re developing an East of England Textile Trail and have made a start with just a few examples of the places of interest along a route from Rochester’s Huguenot Museum to Norwich and west as far as Lavenham.
We’ve started with the less well-known favourite sites and will be adding to the list as the year progresses. If you know of a point of interest along the way please do let us know!
Dennis Severs' House 18 Folgate Street, Spitalfields, London E1 6BX
Dennis Severs' House is a "historical imagination" of what life would have been like inside for a family of Huguenot silk weavers.
The River Lea Materials Map
The River Lea Materials Map includes places with important textile connections, including 18th and 19th century block printing, William Perkin’s laboratory, where he isolated the first aniline dye, mauvine, and the site where Ghandi spun.
Coggeshall Museum The Village Hall, Stoneham Street, Coggeshall, Essex CO6 1UH
Coggeshall Museum is a small but fascinating volunteer-run museum with an excellent collection of Coggeshall lace, a working hand-loom and much else. A free town walk leaflet is available at the museum, which is open on Sunday afternoons from April through September and by appointment.
Warner Textile Archive Silks Way, Braintree, Essex CM7 3GB
Warner Textile Archive, Braintree has a comprehensive collection of fabrics, designs, weaving drafts and personnel records pertaining to the history of Warner & Sons, founded in 1870, as well as objects relating to a number of associated firms including Keith & Company and Charles Norris, London and Sudbury, and Daniel Walters & Sons in Braintree until 1895.
The Suffolk Threads Trails Lavenham · Clare and Cavendish · Hadleigh · Long Melford · Sudbury
The Suffolk Threads Trails focus on evidence of the 15th and 16th century wool trade in Lavenham, Clare and Cavendish, Hadleigh, Long Melford and Sudbury. Maps of walks and further information are available on their website.
Bridewell Museum, Museum of Norwich The Old Skating Rink, 34-36 Bethel Street, Norwich NR2 1NR
Bridewell Museum, Museum of Norwich, worked with Richard Humphries, MBE, FRSA, the leading specialist silk and worsted weaver in the country, to restore one of the last 19th century Jacquard looms to be fully operational.
The South Asia Collection The Old Skating Rink, 34-36 Bethel Street, Norwich NR2 1NR
…and while in Norwich, don’t miss The South Asia Collection, a treasure trove of traditional arts, crafts and cultures of India and Pakistan, and adjacent countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Central Asia.
South Asian ikat and tie-dye; chyrpy; bandhini; and Toran from Kutch, courtesy South Asia Collection, Norwich
All images unless otherwise attributed are courtesy of and copyright the School of Textiles.