ABSTRACT
The vagaries of the British climate have made clothing a necessity from the very beginning. Man’s ingenuity was taxed in order to convert natural and animal fibres into wearing apparel and so successful were his endeavours that clothing also became a means of displaying rank and wealth. The demands of fashion as well as the growth in population meant that the production of fabrics and footwear became two of Britain’s major industries from the late Middle Ages onwards. The rise in living standards also led to the use of textiles and leather for house furnishings in the form of upholstery, draperies and carpets. In the landscape, the wealth generated by the industry is revealed in the elaborate ‘wool’ churches of East Anglia and the elegant clothiers’ houses of the West Country. By contrast, the means of production can be identified in the weavers’ houses, stockingers’ workshops, waterand steam-powered mills and factories which are a feature of the landscape in many parts of Britain.
