ABSTRACT
Production of wool textiles before 1700 was a feature of many parts of England but was mainly concentrated in Yorkshire, East Anglia and the West Country.2 The period 1500-1700 witnessed a number of developments in textile production. Growth in production took place largely outside the towns, certainly outside those towns where guild restrictions existed. Government legislation, the Statute of Artificers 1�63, in��uenced both �ages and apprenticeship �ith local magistrates given a role in their determination. Legislation was also passed to control the quality of production of wool, partly explained by the fact that wool was Britain’s premier export industry throughout the period. So important was wool to Britain’s prosperity that the seat on which the Lord Chancellor sat in the House of Lords was
Map 9.1 Textile districts of Nothern England
known as the Woolsack. Nor was the period static in terms of economic change. The development of new cloths, ‘the new draperies’, enabled Britain to compete more effecti�ely on the continent of Europe. �he industry �as also boosted by the arri�al of Protestant refugees from Catholic countries, especially France, who introduced ne� te�tile traditions to England. �he general effect �as to stimulate trade and encourage economic growth.3
