S - Sail Weavers

There are so many things I have learnt doing this series of blogs and there are still 8 letters to go !

A small geographic area located on the border of Somerset and Dorset saw the emergence of a significant number of co-dependent and integrated active which were associated with the development and growth of sailmaking and the production of twine from the 1700s - mid 1900s. This cluster of activities would later become known as an economic cluster. Other examples in modern day of economic clusters are the Californian wine industry, shipbuilding in Clyde, motor engineering around Coventry and pockets of  IT businesses and start ups like Silicon Valley.

Anyway, back to this little spot on the Somerset/Dorset border. Clusters like this are formed in communities which are imaginative, where creative and unconventional initiatives and projects are embraced. This in turn builds a sort of civic pride and captivates outsiders. This was clearly the case for the sailmaking and rope industry in and around West Coker and East Chinnock. That it lasted for such a sustained period and evolved in an area 32 kilometres from the Dorset coast makes it even more interesting.

The small communities harnessed their assets and became world leaders, but in the end their ability to remain competitive failed. Not really through any fault of their own though. The development of power looms stopped the handloom industry almost immendiately in the 1850s. While they did attempt to diversify they weren't able to stop the demand for steam power which saw the demand for sails to decline dramatically spelling the end of Coker Canvas.

At the time of the 1841 census, just prior to large numbers of my Bartlett ancestors leaving East Chinnock for New Zealand and Australia the occupation which was most prevelant was Sail Weaver. House after house, family after family. Most likely the women folk would have been spinning the flax and the men more involved in weaving. The census doesn't tell us that bit though because of the invisible lives women led in society. I remember seeing flax plantations in New Zealand growing up, around the Manawatu & Horowhenua regions with rows and rows of drying racks in fields. Now I think I should have paid more attention to what Dad was telling me as we drove by in the car.

They must have seen it coming, the end of their industry and perhaps that is why they, their friends and families made the decision to travel to the otherside of the world in the hope of new opportunities there for their children. Staying in England, most would have had no choice but to move to the cities and hope they could do well. The population of East Chinnock  stayed pretty much the same between 1841 and 1851, but occupations had changed. There were less Sail Weavers and more Ag Labs, some Rope makers and a lot more Glovers.

Another little tidbit I didnt know before is that to the west of the East Chinnock village there is a spring with SALT water ! Known as the Salt Hole which was used for salt manufacture until the 19th century.

As well as this small pentagon shaped area of about 200 sq.km south west of Yeovil, there was another economic cluster nearby in Yeovil itself and to the north west including Montacute (where my Cooper family were also about leave from to come to New Zealand). Gloving was the business there, it had been recorded as an industry since the 13th century and it has been estimated that 50% of gloves produced in England came from Yeovil. Certainly there was a lot of sewing going on in Montacute at the time of the 1841 census - plenty of Tailors and loads of Glovers.