Cloth-making

Making woollen cloth was England's main industry in the Middle Ages. Wool from the sheep was combed, then spun into thread or yarn. (Women used spindle and distaff to pull and twist the wool.) Next, the weaver, on a loom, turned the yarn into cloth. After that, the fullers, or 'walkers', trod and shrank the cloth in troughs of water to make it thicker and more solid. Finally, the cloth was dyed and finished.

There were two big steps forward in the Middle Ages. Fulling mills began to do the work that walkers had done. They used water-wheels to drive hammers, which beat the cloth as it lay in the troughs of water. Soon after, the spinning-wheel started to take the place of the spindle and distaff. Technology was slowly changing.

Walter Robson: Medieval Britain; Oxford University Press, 1991/2000, page 77