Nottingham and the Leen Valley: Bleaching and Dyeing in a Historical Context

The history of the bleaching, dyeing and finishing sectors of the Nottinghamshire textile industry is one of changing emphasis, as flax, wool and silk for woven fabrics (post-Conquest period) came to be replaced by cotton and worsted yarns for framework knitting and by lace manufacture (Industrial Revolution period), and ultimately by natural and synthetic fibre yarns for warp-knit and weft-knit sectors (20th century). The period covered is from the post-Conquest times, when woollen manufacture has given rise to considerable wealth for certain families and when bleachers and dyers laboured under burgesses and glids, until the end of the 19th century with the factory system in place, and the new unionism in force