Dyeing

Records show that wool merchants imported woad, madder and alum from Southampton to Witney in the 1460s [1]. Woad would give a blue dye, madder a red or pink dye, and alum was used to fix them to the cloth. Dyeing was done in large vats held over fires.

Not all blankets were dyed, but red and blue dyed blankets and duffields were traded for beaver skins with Native Americans from the 1670s [2]. Dr Plot in 1677 mentions improvements in dye fixing said to be invented by an 'ingenious' local inhabitant [3], which if true may have played a part in building the reputation of Witney blankets.

Clare Sumner