Welsh Journals

THE WELSH WOOLLEN INDUSTRY. By J. Geraint Jenkins. National Museum of Wales, Welsh Folk Museum, Cardiff, 1969. Pp. 410. 55s. No one who is familiar with the Welsh countryside or with its place- names will doubt that the manufacture of wool and woollen goods, which now holds such a special place in the study of rural crafts and industries, was in earlier times both important and widespread. Its vestiges are scattered in all parts of the country, but particularly in the counties of Cardigan and Montgomery. Towns such as Newtown owe not only their present size, but also their form and much of their fabric to the develop- ment of the industry. Today only twenty-four mills are in operation (as late as 1925 there were 217) and some of these are unlikely to survive long. It is the classical story of a rise from rather wretched beginnings to an often flourishing and certainly renowned maturity, and then of a decline, with changing circumstances and tastes, into relative obscurity once more. The outlines of the story are already well-known. Mr. Jenkins's con- tribution is to fill in the details with a thorough and carefully documented survey of woollen manufacturing in all parts of Wales. The book begins with a lengthy chapter, taking up over one-quarter of the text, on the techniques and machinery used in the production of woollen goods. It is a fascinating account (especially to one who knows little of these matters), supported by apt illustrations and instructive example. Who would have guessed what time and trouble our forebears took in collecting urine for use in the scouring of wool, or what variety of homespun dyeing recipies there were? The second chapter is a short review of the history of the early development of woollen production from prehistoric times through to the early seventeenth century. It is a quick scamper over the course, and concludes with the verdict that by the end of the period under review the Welsh woollen industry was still widely scattered, unorganized, incapable of self-improvement, and basically an adjunct to animal husbandry, bringing little prosperity to the producers and, presumably, little joy to the consumers of the coarse, poorly-made, expensive cloth. The remainder of the book is composed of a series of studies, county by county, of the growth, rationalization and decline of the wool industry from the early seventeenth century to the present. Of particular interest here, of course, is the chapter on Montgomeryshire, where, with certain advantages in raw material, water supply and location, the industry flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century. That it never realized its potential nor grew sufficiently to act as a serious rival to. the West Riding of Yorkshire has always presented a problem, and it is one which Mr. Jenkins faces briefly. A second focus of interest is the middle Teifi valley. As woollen manufacture gradually declined in mid- and north Wales, so this western area came to prominence. In the last decade of the nineteenth century the counties of Cardigan, Carmarthen, and Pembroke