Nottingham lace: From craft to industry

Nottingham Local Studies, part of Nottingham City Libraries, preserves a wealth of artefacts that illustrate how the lace craft became an industry central to the British Empire's growth.

Princess Elizabeth in the 1950s admiring Nottingham lace alongside local dignitaries.

Nottingham lace was admired by royalty and central to the city's identity. Source: Picture Nottingham

If you visit Nottingham you’ll see how lace has been woven through the city for generations.

That relationship is shown through documents, photographs and other artefacts preserved by Nottingham Local Studies.

What started as a hand-woven craft became a global industry as the British Empire spread. And you might be surprised by the extent to which it helped shape the Nottingham of the 21st century.

A red street sign made from iron with white text reading St Mary's Gate. There is a lace motif above the text.

St. Mary's Gate, in the Lace Market area, still bears lace motifs today. Source: Richard Hoare on Geograph CC BY-SA 2.0

A drawing of a woman posing in a floor length orange lace dress with a white trim topped with a matching cape. To the right of the image is a carriage clock balancing on blue, purple, orange and yellow flowing lace.

Lace Charmaine was an elegant style of lace created by Nottingham company Simon May & Co. Source: Nottingham Local Studies

Industry, intricacy and innovation

Fine lace has been valued as an intricate textile for centuries. Its increasing popularity ran alongside Britain’s rise to prominence as a leader of the industrial revolution.

Nottingham became the centre of the explosion of lace, renowned for innovation and links to global commerce — as well as the brutality and class division that often powered heavy industry.

The contrast between delicate finery and the harshness of its means of production was an early characteristic of lace, and it would remain so as the textile’s popularity spread.

Textiles were a big driver of the industrial revolution: steam-powered machinery in factories increased demand for coal and iron. And the need to transport goods for longer distances led to the growth of canals and railways.

A black & white photo of an intricate lace tablecloth in Arts & Crafts style covering a dining room. The table also features silver tableware and cutlery, crystal glassware and a prominent candlestick.

Lace tablecloths decorated the dining rooms of society's well-to-do. Source: Picture Nottingham

The origins of lace production

The lace craft is thought to have arrived in Britain in the 16th century. In the 1700s ‘lace schools’ emerged, the name disguising the fact that these were often little more than workhouses where children as young as five would be put to work.

The craft at this time was primarily around bobbin lace. Thread would be wound around wooden bobbins, and then woven around pins that were inserted into a template design.

The more sophisticated the design, the more time it took. It wasn’t unusual for laceworkers to toil 12 hour days in dim, cold conditions that would have lasting health implications.

Such conditions were sadly consistent with the origins of the fabric with which they were working. By the end of the 18th century, most cotton used in textile manufacturing was a result of the labour of enslaved people in British colonies such as the West Indies and the United States.

A black and white drawing of a group of women sitting by a window in a dark room making lace and winding bobbins.

Source: Wikimedia

Technological disruption

The bobbin-net machine, invented in 1808 by John Heathcote, saw machinery used in lace-making for the first time. But its impact was dwarfed by the dawn of steam-powered machinery. Suddenly, huge machines could create lace at scale.

And so, Nottingham became known for producing not only lace, but the heavy machinery required to create it.

Emerging markets in France, Germany, the USA and South America saw a surge in demand for the city’s manufacturing expertise.

Not everyone was happy about the emergence of machinery. The Luddite riots began in 1811 in Nottinghamshire, and soon spread to neighbouring counties. They were led by handicraftsmen upset at their livelihoods being threatened.

International demand

John Jardine’s company started manufacturing lace machines from its factory on Gamble Street in the 1870s. Jardine's son, Ernest, would later manufacture bicycles and typewriters round the corner on Raleigh Street (and go on to be knighted).

In this series of pictures from Nottingham Local Studies' archives, Jardine's factory workers move shipping crates containing a machine being shipped to Calais in France. The city, like Nottingham, became renowned worldwide for its lace.

Machines like these could weigh several tonnes, and transporting them was a dangerous operation.

The cover of a black photo album. On the cover are the words 'John Jardine, Nottingham, England' in embossed gold lettering.

Source: Nottingham Local Studies

A group of men use chains to move a large part of a lace machine. Other parts of the machine lay nearby.

A group of factory workers stand behind a long crate containing the parts of a lace machine. On its side are stamped the words 'Made in England by John Jardine Ltd' and 'Calais' - its eventual destination.

A crate containing a lace machine for export is slowly hoisted into the air by chains, as factory workers hold it steady.

A long crate containing the parts of a lace machine is hoisted by a crane, ready to be shipped abroad.

A fully-constructed lace machine is installed and working, weaving cotton into lace under the watchful eye of a factory worker.

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From craft to industry: a timeline

16th century

The lacemaking craft arrives in Britain via Europe.

17th century

‘Lace Schools’ start to emerge, where women and children are taught how to make bobbin lace – and made to work long hours for little pay.

1790

The first steam powered textile factory is built in Nottingham.

1808

John Heathcote patents the first bobbin-net machine, bringing mechanisation to lace-making.

1811

The Luddite movement sees workers rebel against the use of machines in textile manufacturing, and the cost of renting lace-making frames. Protests originate in Nottinghamshire.

1841

A new Jacquard attachment means lace machines can now replicate the fine decorative detail usually done by hand.

1850s

Steam-enabled factory production of lace becomes widespread; the emergence of department stores means lace becomes more widely available.

1870

The Elementary Education Act, the first step towards outlawing child labour, is passed – although universal free education for children won’t arrive until 1891.

1914

At its peak before the First World War, there were over 1,500 lace warehouses and manufacturers in the Nottingham area.

An old illustration of a woman sitting at a table working on bobbin lace..

Source: The Fireside Source of Invention by John McGovern, via Wikimedia

An illustration of a Belgian lace school, from the book A History of Lace, by Fanny Bury Palliser. Pupils and teachers sit in individual chairs working on bobbin lace.

Source: A History of Lace by Fanny Bury Palliser, via Wikimedia

A steam engine from the Gamble's Factory in Nottingham, which originally produced lace before switching to bicycle production for the Raleigh company.

Source: Chris Allen on Geograph CC BY-SA

An early 20th century painting of a view of Nottingham's Lace Market area. St Mary's Churchyard is on the left, and on the right we can see a side street with the name 'Hollowstone'.

Source: Picture Nottingham

An illustration of a man gesturing or beckoning against the backdrop of a building on fire. He appears to be holding a knife or dagger. Other men raise their arms and hold similar weaponry. The image has the title 'The Leader of the Luddites'.

Source: Working Class Movement Library catalogue, via Wikimedia

A small square sample of fine lace, decorated with floral motifs.

Source: Picture Nottingham

Lace Charmaine was an elegant style of lace created by Nottingham company Simon May & Co. Source: Nottingham Local Studies

An illustration of a lady and a young girl working at a lace-making machine on a factory floor.

Source: Wellcome Images, via Wikimedia

A sepia photo, taken from high up, of workers at their stations in a lace-making factory. There are about two dozen people looking up at the camera, with many men wearing aprons. The bottom of photo says 'Interior Talbot Lace Curtain Factory'.

Source: Picture Nottingham

Beauty born of hardship

Lace was a status symbol for society’s well-to-do. But the work that went into creating it could be punishing and very poorly-paid, and left many workers with long-term health problems.

One of the most common ailments people suffered was poor eyesight. Sitting in dimly-lit factories finishing garments by hand meant many workers — often women — found their vision failing, at a time before eyeglasses were widely available.

Another effect factory workers suffered was curvature of the spine, due to the long hours and poor posture their work required.

A warehouse room full of women work on finishing lace garments and drapery. At the bottom of the photo are the words 'Finishing Department'.

Most lace joiners – or 'finishers' – were female. Source: Picture Nottingham

First-hand memories

In 1973, a Nottinghamshire newspaper ran an essay competition in which it asked readers for their stories of working in the lace industry.

Nottingham Central Library retains many of these entries, which now act as invaluable first-hand accounts of the lives of factory workers.

One page of a handwritten essay from Mrs Ethel Clarke, who worked in the Nottingham lace trade as a girl.

Mrs Ethel Clarke's letter

“If you dared to speak, lift up your eyes or ask a question, the overlooker would pounce on you, falling back on Bradfordian slang with, ‘shut yer clatter... yer ‘ere to look and listen, or yer no good to us.’

The factory conditions were austere. We worked under gas lights only lit when dusk had fallen. There were two lavatories, one kept locked, ‘for the sole use of the overlooker’, the other served the large number of workers.”

Mrs Ethel Clarke

“I started work in the Lace Market in 1899 as an errand girl. My first employment I started at ten past eight in the morning until nine at night for 4/6 (four shillings and sixpence) a week...

After a year I was 14 [and] I was put on the counter and taught to learn Jennying, which is cording the lace ready for shops... I worked in the lace trade till I was married but where I worked they did not employ married women in those days...”

Mrs L. Messom

“I left school aged 13 and a half. My first place of employment was Thomas Adams on Stoney Street. I left a year after and went to Wright’s Finishing School on Carlton Road... We had to work from six until six at night, and one on a Saturday.

I had to run all the way to work winter and summer, because I was always tired and got out of bed at ten to six... There were no canteens then, I sometimes didn’t eat until I got home at dinnertime... We are still here to tell our stories but it’s a wonder we are.”

P. Wright

“I was 14 when I entered the industry, conditions were dirty and workshops were badly run. I had to be up at 5am each morning, arriving there by 6am... I can remember the times when I had to stay working until 11pm at night.

I often used to think that this was a monotonous kind of life as we had to go over the same ground each day, and had it not been for the firms employing mixed labour it may have been worse."

Anonymous

Reading recommendations from
Nottingham Local Studies

Want to learn more about Nottingham’s fascinating history of lace? Lisa Hopwood, a Local Studies Specialist Advisor for Nottingham City Libraries, provides a shortlist of books for you explore.

Lisa’s lace reading list

Felkin’s History of the Machine-wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufactures
William Felkin1967Long considered the ‘go-to’ book for anyone wanting a complete history of the lace and textile industry in Nottingham during the 19th century.
Employment of Children
Children’s Employment Commission1842An interesting though grim read for anyone wanting to know more about the social history of the lace industry.
Century of Achievement 1849-1949: The Simon May Story
Simon, May & Co. Limited1949One of Nottingham’s lace companies reflects on its centenary in business, during which the city’s lace became popular worldwide.