NO MEETING IN DECEMBER

JANUARY 2026 MEETING

Our next meeting is on Wednesday, 21 January 2026 in Holy Cross Church Hall, Butts Road, SN4 0NN at 7.30pm. The subject is ‘The Wool Trade’, presented by Martin Collisson. The history of England's wool trade is a centuries-long story of economic dominance, from its early roots to its medieval ‘golden age’ and eventual shift to finished cloth exports. Initially a source of domestic use and simple cloth exports, wool became the backbone of the English economy by the 12th century, bringing immense wealth to landowners and merchants. This era was defined by large monastic flocks and exports of raw wool to Europe, especially Flanders. Over time, England began to export more finished wool cloth instead of raw wool. This was a trend that was greatly accelerated by the 14th-century wool industry developments and the influx of skilled Flemish weavers, followed later by Huguenots. Many towns in the area were centres for the wool trade including Bradford-upon-Avon, Cirencester, Chipping Camden, Salisbury, amongst others. Join us to hear Martin take us through this story.

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