The Who, What, Where & When of Worsted Wool

Working on my Traditional Knit project has led me so far astray.

I've already tracked down the difference between guernseys, ganseys and jerseys- to make sure I'm starting with the right project! Now, I'm looking into the wool that's used to make the sweaters and found myself down, yet again, another rabbit hole. 

This time we're looking into worsted wool. It's the common weight wool for the three aforementioned fishermen's sweaters, and when I was looking into them a while back, I came across a really interesting piece of information.

Annoyingly, I can't find the exact place that I located the research. It's sat in my notebook under Le Tricoteur's blog on guernsey history, but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, somewhere, someone wrote that 'worsted wool comes from Worstead in Norfolk'. That got my attention. 

Geography isn't my strong suit. I'd never heard of Worstead, but the fact that this little village had such an impact the English knitting industry really intrigued me. 

We all know worsted wool as the kinda in-between weight of a dk and aran yarn. It's the firm favourite of British & Channel Isle knitters for their fishermen's sweaters, but I wouldn't necessarily pick it as a modern knitter. 

I mean, Ravelry proves me wrong a little. As of 17th March 2026, there are currently over 263,000 DK weight projects, over 223,000 Aran weight projects, and over 240,000 Worsted weight projects.

So, it's still a very popular weight, but how much do we actually know about it? How much do we actually know about all our yarn weights? 

I'm definitely getting ahead of myself, and we'll try and research into yarn weights individually at a different time. 

But, for now, because worsted wool is going to make up quite a few of my fishermen's sweaters, let's take a further dive into its history.

 

 

 

So, initially, wool was carded and spun and weaved into cloth. This cloth would then be used to create clothing and tapestries. Woollen cloth, as it was called, was made from the fleeces of quite short haired sheep in England. So, when the wool was carded and spun into yarn, because of how short the fibres were, it was common for it to have quite a fuzzy look.

In Worstedopolis by William Cudworth, written in 1888, he includes a quite in depth explanation of how worsted wool was manufactured, pre- Industrial Revolution. He explains that the whole manufacture of wool involves a state of care, patience and skill, for after plucking the wool from the body of the sheep, one would have to comb the tangled fibres. It was traditionally done at home, by hand, usually in the combers bedroom. The combs were heated and so placed on a stove, or a 'pot' that was kept at a high temperature by burning charcoals in it. The wool would be oiled to render it easier to comb through. Now, the smell from the burning charcoal often gave the combers nausea, which they would seek relief from at the ale-house. Which is what you'll see when you scroll down to see my most favourite illustration.

P.S. USE SECRET CODE WORSTEDOPOLIS FOR A SURPRISE DISCOUNT!

Hand-wool combing needed three implements:

1. A pair of combs for each person
2. A post where one of the combs could be fixed (called a 'padpost')
3. a comb-pot or small stove for heating the teeth of the comb. 

Below is a sketch from Cudworth's book of a pair of hand combs.

The hand comb was a piece of T- shaped wood with long steel teeth along the head, arranged in three/ four rows with about 30 teeth in each row. The wool would hang from the comb on the padpost, whilst another identical comb would comb through the wool. 

Just like the whole guernsey-gansey debate, quite a few historical texts that I have come across utilise worsted and woollen cloths and production as one and the same. But, we know that's wrong.

So, woollen cloth, or 'cloth' as it was known in the 18th and 19th centuries, was the initial, traditional, way of making textile fabric out of wool. The fibres would be quite short and often stick out from the strand of yarn. This is because the fleece was carded, meaning it was brushed in two directions, and so the fibres would stick out from all places. 

Worsted cloth, on the other hand, was known as 'stuff'. This, newer, method was brought over to England by Flemish weavers anywhere between the 11th and 13th centuries. I can't seem to narrow it down any further than that without finding contradicting information... I'll go into it later. 

This worsted cloth was instead combed, meaning all the fibres would be brushed in one direction. Sheep with longer fleeces, or long-staple, were preferred for this method of production, and were traditionally reared in the East Midlands region of England. Once the fleeces were combed to organise the fibres, remove the shorter ends and clean out the dirt, they could then be spun into yarn. Worsted yarn is a finer, smoother and stronger yarn, and soon became one of the main fibres used in clothing because it was a cheaper alternative to silk and cotton.

History Lesson Time: In 1258, King Henry III, forbade the exports of wool, and announced that everyone should be using the woollen cloth made within the country. In the 12th and 13th centuries, many local varieties of woollen cloth were exported to Europe. Cloths from Stamford went to Venice, and were supposedly so reputable they were imitated in Milan (I mean, imagine it now.) King Henry III had formed a like for international wears, he was quite flamboyant, apparently, but his English subjects resented this, because of course they had a lot of lovely cloth themselves.

So, he explained those who wanted to wear the delicate fabrics from the looms of Flander were instructed "not to seek over-precious garments." But, the government couldn't govern the export of wool, and long story short, they wanted to remain friendly with the Flemish people in case war broke out with France, because Flanders would be the gateway. Also, by refusing to supply Flemish weavers with raw wool, they had begun to look elsewhere for supplies. 

In the Middle Ages, and all the way up until the 1820s, worsted wool production was a cottage industry. Worsted and woollen cloths were created by hand, by skilled craftsmen (and women), sometimes at home, but also in large industrial mills. By the end of King Henry III's rein, the government had declared that "all workers of woollen cloths, male and female... may safely come into our realm...". In 1331, Edward IV granted letters of protection to all weavers of Flanders that wanted to bring their craft to England. 

The wool industry was such an integral part of British trade and industry and native manufacturing. I found this image in The Histories of English Industries, The Woollen and Worsted Industries, E. Lipson, 1921. You can read it here. 

It illustrates the 17th century process of woollen and worsted industries, which I think is fascinating. I especially love that 'Ale House' is significant enough to include in the process. 

Worsted wool gets its namesake from the village of Worstead in Norfolk, England. Obviously, Flemish weavers knew about the method of creating worsted wool before they travelled to England to share their skills, but the history books eradicate any of that information. 

Then, in the 15th Century, King Edward IV allowed the town of Bradford in West Yorkshire to hold two annual fairs, and by 1536 Bradford specialised in worsted wool. No one really knows how Bradford came about to be the 'Worsted Captial of the World', whether it was directly from Norfolk, or in some other roundabout way. Bradford itself had key resources and supplies of coal, sandstone and water, and already a few functioning mills. So, it seems that it was the perfect place to built 'Worsetedopolis' as coined by William Cudworth in 1888. 

Cudworth writes that since the year 1825, wool dealers gradually drifted towards Bradford, and in 1888, Bradford could boast of being the first wool market in England. At its peak, Cudworth explains that Yorkshire posesses 90% of the spindles and and power-looms needed to weave worsted wool, and about 80% of those were employed in Bradford.

When? Well, during the 13th century, worsted cloth was manufactured in Flounders, and sought after around Europe, and even in England because it was no match for the often scratchy and fuzzy look of woollen cloth. 

Flemish weavers had been travelling over to England before King Edward IV granted them protection, but it seems to have created a rise in artisans moving further West. 

By the 16th century, for some reason or another, not that I can find an exact story, Bradford was a market town specialising in worsted wool production. They had usefull access to water, coal, standstone (to make the mills), and canal networks (for easy distribution), and already a town with a few mills, by 1770 they were rivalling Norfolk.

The Industrial Revolution, beginning in 1760, saw the rise of machines. Many of those skilled craftsmen (and women) who had honed their mastery were to be replaced by factory production that could see the works done on a much larger scale. In 1826, steam power-looms were introduced into Bradford. They had initially been introduced in cotton mills, but it was believed they wouldn't be suitable for the worsted stuff trade.

A year earlier, in 1825, the combers and weavers of Bradford had taken a 22- week strike. According to Cudworth, on May 1st 1926 a mob grew at Messers. Horsfall's mill (the inventors of the steam power- loom), with the intention of attacking it. The only damage actually taken was the breaking of a few windows, but apparently a second attack was planned for that evening. 

A few days later, they tried again. More windows broken, a Colonel and number of special constables turned up, a rioter fired a pistol into the mill, and this caused a whole retaliation from those already inside the mill. Two people were killed and a large number were wounded in the mess, but after this, there was no further resistance, and due to the employment of machinery- the worsted industry flourished. 

By the mid 20th- century, Bradford's wool trade was in decline, and between 1950-67, approximately two mills closed every week. With the introduction of more synthetic fibres, and cheaper imports, the wool trade has fizzled out. 

It's really important that we support our still-standing historical mills across the UK. Without the wool trade, the British industry could quite possibly have never grown to such a peak. 

 

Sources:

Terminology: What's the difference between worsted & woolen wool fabrics? The Dreamstress, 2014

History of the Worsted Wool Manufacture in England, John James, 1857

Worstedopolis. A sketch history of the town and trade of Bradford, the metropolis of the worsted industry. William Cudworth, 1888

The History of The Woollen and Worsted Industries, E. Lipson, 1921

Worstedopolis: The Ascendancy of Bradford in the Global Wool Trade during the Industrial Revolution, Grace E. Turton, History Through Fiction

Built of Wool: Worsted Collection, Bradford District Museum & Galleries, 2022

The History of Worstead's Wool Heritage, Worstead Estate, 2025

The Midlands Woollen Industry, Knitting Together