The Calne Blue Plaque Trail is a fascinating walk around the centre of the town in the Heritage Quarter visiting ten points of interest, which act as a reminder of the town’s past, including the site of the Harris bacon factory, the wool trade workshop, the wharf (end of the canal) and Castle House.
The blue plaque simply states that Calne's main industry, until Harris' came along, was woollen cloth.
Many buildings in Calne were part of the cloth industry having been the houses of cloth makers, workshops, warehouses and dyehouses. The production of cloth was the main industry for Calne and many of the surrounding Wiltshire towns
Weavers' House was constructed in the late 18th Century. However, the cloth industry predates this considerably and the size of the house would indicate that the industry was flourishing when it was built.
The building itself is not particularly remarkable. The large, high windows suggest a need for light for the workers inside. The archway in the centre front tells of wagons arriving and leaving carrying fleece and finished cloth. The storage that the building affords would also be used later by the Harris factory who used it for storing sawdust ,giving rise to it being called Sawdust House for a while.
At one stage Wiltshire broadcloth was regarded as some of the finest in Europe. Later, there were conflicts between large and small producers and accusations of poor quality work which resulted in Parliamentary intervention and inspections in the 16th Century. There was increased competition from Europe, from the Dutch and the French, who catered to the quality end of the market while the Wiltshire trade was supplying the English armies with cheaper cloth. Competition and government intervention in industry are not modern phenomena.
However, as international trade became easier and increased, Wiltshire’s cloth industry declined and eventually died out.
1864 A new year and let's hope it's better than the last few. It seems things is going downhill in the town and has been since quite a few years now. I shouldn't be surprised to see cloth production end completely here soon. They's all them foreign countries making their own cloth and making it a good sight cheaper nor what we can, or so they say. We don't see it here of course, but it come from France and Germany and now they say, from Scotland an all.
I don't see what's going to replace it cos it were big around here, with everyone involved from the shepherds to the carters and then the weavers.
Still it's not all bad, we've got gas light in some of the streets now and the roads are being made better, being paved and there are sewers in parts of the town. Makes it all a bit better for them as can afford it. For the rest of us it's work or the workhouse and you wouldn't wish that on no-one.
On the good side an all, the railway's come to Calne. A line from here to Chippenham has just opened but that'll be for goods and a few passengers, I reckon, and it’ll be beyond the likes of me to afford it. And they say it'll put the bargees out of work an all. Still that's progress I s'pose.
Talking of progress they say that one of the butchers in town has invented a way of using ice. They say that it means that meat don't go off so quick and they can cure bacon all year round. It's all very well, but there's been a couple of years recently when we was able to earn a penny or two moving the ice that they brought in from Norway into the ice house. Me and a few other put out of work because of the hard winters was grateful for that, but looks like that's gone an all now.
Still as long as we got Queen Victoria and Mr Palmerston to look after us, I'm sure things'll work out, though it may be a bit too late for me. After all, I’m 50 this year.
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