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Sudbury Silk Walk, 24th September 2015
| Author: Sudbury Tourist Information | Published: 24th September 2015 06:32 |
Silk Walk, Sudbury
Sudbury Tourist Information's Sudbury Silk Walk.
We are delighted to announce the ‘Sudbury Silk Walk’.
Did you know that Sudbury is the capital of silk in the UK with four working silk mills?
Over 130 metric tonnes of raw silk is imported into Sudbury each year.
Our blue badge guide will take you around Sudbury to discover the history of this wonderful, versatile fabric.
Tickets are £5, Children are £3, available at the Sudbury Tourist Information Centre, The Library, Market Hill.
Telephone 01787 881320 or email: sudburytic@sudburytowncouncil.co.uk
A potted history of Sudbury and the Silk connection.
Religious persecution of the Huguenots, the French weavers, from 1572 on led to their evacuation to England. At first they settled in the Spitalfields area of East London, most notably Fournier Street, but wages were high and conditions in East Anglia were more favourable due to better water supplies, access to ports, cheaper premises and a good supply of skilled, cheap labour within easy distance of London. So silk production migrated to Sudbury, Nayland, Hadleigh and some parts of Essex, and by 1714 the trade was established in the region. George Courtauld lived in Sudbury and started a silk business nearby in 1798, and Reginald Warner started the Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company in 1903, which is still thriving in Sudbury today.
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