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The men and women of Atherington (and the surrounding
villages) who had earned their livelihood in Devon's Wool Trade turned
out to be resourceful and inventive - they had to be in
order to survive. As the market for their hand-woven serge dried up,
they found themselves with a considerable number of sheep on their hands
- or, more precisely, on the hilly pastures of this area of Devon which are ideal
for sheep rearing.
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They turned their attention to the creation of leather
from the skins of their sheep - a skill which grew to become the basis
of a whole new industry - that of glove-making.
The skins of sheep and lambs were prepared
by men and boys at a number of places
in the North Devon area to provide a fine, supple leather known as
"Chamois" (pronounced "shammy" locally). It was
variously described in the trade as "Doeskin" or
"Buckskin" or, even, "Dog skin" to make it more
desirable but in every case, it was leather produced by splitting away
and removing the woolly side of the skin, leaving an inner layer of a fine, softly pliable material,
which was ideal for making gloves .
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| Glove motif from the factory wall, Great Torrington |
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The rural network set up by the wool merchants created the
basis for another
cottage industry. By the beginning of the 19th century the pack-horse
trains still went the rounds of the villages around Bideford but now
they brought gloves in kit-form and returned to collect up the finished product on
behalf of wholesalers in larger places like Great Torrington and
Barnstaple.
It was dull, repetitive work and hard on the hands. A woman
working full-time, six days a week seldom earned more than 7 shillings
for her efforts but in the economy of this part of Devon, that tiny sum
represented a useful addition to the household economy.
The 1851 Census reveals that, unlike their sisters in Devon villages where life was
based around crop-growing and milk production, many of the female inhabitants of Atherington
were working women in their own right. The majority of the working
women in the village were outworkers in the glove trade but Sarah Delbridge kept an Inn and
the local post woman was Prudence Stedeford who, in her younger days, had been
a single parent. There was a schoolmistress, two dressmakers and a number of women
still working at the thankless task of spinning.
If the glovers were badly paid, then pity these poor
spinsters who were at the very bottom of the labour market. As the 19th
century began, to earn a single penny, a woman had to spin 1,150 yards
of wool - for each lb of wool produced she would receive 9d and if she
were really industrious, she could earn 2 shillings and 6 pence in a
week. As late as 1851, more than 20 women in Atherington were still
carrying on this work, glad of the chance to earn anything that would
help to feed their families. |
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Gloves became an important fashion item during the early
years of the 19th century and various fabrics such as silk and taffeta
were introduced alongside leather. The style of glove became more elaborate as long,
embroidered or buttoned cuffs were added.
Machine cutting revolutionised manufacture and by the 1860s
this large
glove factory had been established in Great Torrington, not far from
Atherington.
Even after the introduction of the sewing machine, outworkers still
continued to do the more tricky processes by hand at home, and well into
the 20th century, vehicles, bringing in the weekly stint of piece work,
were a familiar sight in the countryside around Great Torrington. |
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The
Vaughan Tapscott glove factory,
Great
Torrington
Now
finally closed
April 2004
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