4423-0

Washing and Winding

Image: River Stour, Kidderminster. Remains of brackets for a platform which was used by dyehousemen to wash wool looking towards Green Street, Kidderminster.

Image from: Bewdley Museum (photograph by F Johnson, 1979)

Weavers were completely responsible for the whole weaving process from bobbin to completed carpet, with the help of their half-weaver apprentices and draw-boys or girls. The completed carpet was always delivered to the factory counting house on set days of the week, known as Fall Days, which were usually Thursdays and Saturdays. The weavers, who were paid by the yard, were always males who had served their apprenticeships and often fiercely independent. In turn they were responsible for paying the workers under them and their own fuel and lighting. Although the factory owners usually owned the actual looms, it seems that the weavers did not have to pay any rental for these.


People:


Continue browsing this section

4429-0Made in Kidderminster: the History of the Carpet Industry 618-0The Origins of Carpet Making in Kidderminster 4427-0The Origins of Carpet Making in Kidderminster 4431-0The Origins of Carpet Making in Kidderminster 1230-0Handloom Weaving 4428-0The Factory System 4426-0Washing and Winding 4423-0Washing and Winding 2531-0Technological Changes: the Scotch Loom 2535-0Technological Changes: the Brussels Loom 4430-0Technological Changes: the Jacquard Loom 1830-0The Kidderminster Carpet Industry and the Wider World 1803-0The Kidderminster Carpet Industry and the Wider World 4422-0Working Conditions in Kidderminster Carpet Factories 4425-0The Great Strike of 1828 4424-0The Aftermath of the Great Strike of 1828 1837-0Kidderminster in the mid 19th Century 1832-0Kidderminster: the Factory Town