Norwich was the first seat of the worsted manufac ture in England, or rather perhaps Worsted, a small town in the county of Norfolk, from which the manu facture took its name. About the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century, this species of manufac ture extended itself, not only over the county of Norfolk, but even through Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; and, in process of time, sent its colonies into Essex, the mid land and southern counties, and even into Yorkshire. In the time of Henry VIII. the sale of stuffs made in Nor wich only amounted to 100,000/. annually, besides stock ings, which were computed at 60,000/. more. Dining the two succeeding reigns, new articles of manufacture were introduced ; and, in 1575, the Dutch, who fled hither from the persecutions of the Duke of Alva, intro duced the making of bombaseens, a manufacture for which this city has been long famous. At this period, however, and for a considerable time afterwards, its trade did not depend so much upon foreign demand as it does now. As long as Sir Robert Walpole continued in power, he encouraged its manufactures of crape, then a staple article, by using his influence for orders to be given, that the public mountings should always be in Norwich crapes. The most fatal blow to the home trade of this city was given by the prevalence of cotton manufactures, which began to be sold cheap, after the invention of Sir Robert Arkwright. It then became ab solutely necessary for the Norwich manufacturers to seek a market abroad; and this they succeeded in obtaining. There was scarcely a country in Europe, in which their goods were not to be seen, and the demand for them in creased so much, and so rapidly, that it became neces sary to increase the importation of lay yarn from Ire land. Before, however, he commencement of the first French revolutionary war, the manufactures of Norwich began to shew symptoms of decline, and the war com pleted its ruin. It has since revived a little, but pro bably will never regain its former prosperity. While the trade was tolerable, it was estimated that about 50,000 tods of wool were combed and spun in the coun ty of Norfolk, which employed about 500 combers, and furnished spinning work for most of the poor women and children in the county. During its flourishing state, the returns of the manufacture were estimated to be about 1,200,000/. per annum; and even in 1805, when it was deprived of many of its foreign markets, the returns were nearly 800,000/. Of this sum it was calculated that the price of labour took off 685 000/., while the va lue of the raw material, dying stuff, oil, soap, and coals, was only 115,000/.; thus shewing its great importance. It furnished employment for about 50 distinct occupa tions. The staple articles of manufacture in Norwich may be said to be its fine camblets, of which the East India Company take off annually a considerable quantity, and its worsted damasks, shawls, Ste.
Before proceeding to the consideration of the woollen manufacture of North Wales, it may be proper briefly to notice the districts, or places in England, where other species of goods made from wool, than those already no ticed, are manufactured. It would be tedious, however, even to name all the kinds of these goods, or the various places in which they are made; we must, therefore, con tent ourselves with noticing the most considerable. In Devonshire, and the adjoining part of Cornwall, as well as in some parts of Somersetshite, a variety of woollen goods, little consumed in England, are made, such as druggets, long-ells, &e. These are sold as they come from the loom to the merchants of Exeter, where they are milled, dyed, and finished, and afterwards exported. The East India Company take off a large proportion of the long-ells: while this manufacture was in a flourish ing state, the average annual value exported to all parts was valued at 600,000/. En other parts of Devonshire, there are also branches of the woollen manufacture ; of which the manufacture of plush, at Modbury, deserves notice, on account of the ingenious construction of the machines used for this purpose.
A large manufacture of baize was formerly carried on in the towns and neighbourhood of Colchester, Docking, Braintree, and Coggleshall, in the county of Essex. This article was exported to Spain, Portugal, and Italy; but the manufacture has greatly declined here, having pass ed to other places, especially to Rockdale, in Lancashire, on the borders of Yorkshire. This, indeed, is one of the most flourishing places in the kingdom, for the manu facture of baize, serges, flannels, &e. The population of the district, in which this manufacture is carried on, is about 36,000 ; and it is calculated that one half arc employed in it. Baize and flannels are also manufac tured at Bury, in Lancashire, and the former article, with coarse cloth and blankets, at Chichester in Sussex. Salisbury is noted for its flannels. Blankets are made at Leeds, Witney, Dulverton, Ste. With respect to Wit ney, however, it may be observed, that since the intro duction of machinery, the chief part of the blankets (though they still retain the name) are made in Gla morganshire, and sent to Witney. Carpets are manu factured at Kidderminster, Wilton, Cirencester, Wor cester, Axminster, ke. Those made at the last place are deemed equal to any imported from Turkey or Per sia.
At Kendal, Ambleside, and Keswick, there are made considerable quantities of coarse woollens, druggets, &e. At Andover, Basingstoke, and Alton, in Hamp shire, the latter article, and shalloons, serges, and a variety of worsted articles. At Banbury and Coven try, worsted shags. At Burford, rugs. Fleecy hosier7 at Godalming, in Surrey. It has already been men tioned, that the Norwich manufacture extended itself into Suffolk ; but the articles now made there rather differ from those made in that city, consisting of light stuff, bunting, crape, Re. The manufacture of these articles is carried on at Sudbury, Bury St Edmund's, Needham Market, and Lavenham. In this county, also, a considerable quantity of yarn is spun for the Nor with manufactures. Woollen yarn is likewise made at Broughton, and llorslingdean in Lancashire, and in many parts of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Sze.
The woollen manufactures of North Wales, as has been already mentioned, arc carried on principally in Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, and Denbighshire. They consist of webs, flannels, stockings, socks, wigs, and gloves. As the stockings made in Wales arc all worsted, we shall consider them here apart from the stocking manufacture of England. The webs manu factured in North Wales are distinguished into two sorts ; strong cloth, or high country cloth; and small cloth, or low country cloth. The first kind is made in Merionethshire, principally on the domestic system, but in some parts there are factories. Almost every little farmer makes webs, and few cottages are without a loom. In some cases, the manufacturing farmers employ wool of their own growth ; but it is principally bought from the wool staplers and skinners : all kinds are used in discriminately. The quality of the manufactured article is of various degrees. There is a market for strong clot: at Shrewsbury; but it is customary for the drapers of the . town to go up into the country, (as they term it,) and buy goods, wherever they can get them. It is like wise a custom with the principal drapers to keep ser vants the greater part of the year in the vicinity of the manufactures, who get acquainted with the persons who make cloth, assist the poor ones probably with money to purchase wool, and superintend the making and dress ing of the goods. Most of the strong cloth is exported from London or Liverpool, to Holland, Germany, and America ;—a very considerable quantity being used at home for workmen's jackets, ironing cloths, blan kets, &c.