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The flannel market
Montgomeryshire was the most important centre of the woven textile industry in Wales from the mid 16th century, and until around 1790 wool was carded, spun and woven into fabric in almost all farmhouses and cottages as a winter activity to supplement the often meagre living from upland farming. Weaving is among the earliest trades recorded in parish registers.
Since textiles were being produced in so many, often remote, locations throughout the district, small water-powered fulling mills were built in many places to process the rolls of woven cloth. The fulling process involved soaking the cloth in warm water and detergent such as fuller's earth, causing the wet woollen fibres to mat together and thicken and cleanse the cloth. |