Weavers Cottage
/Collections/Buildings/weavers)
The manufacture of linen cloth from locally grown flax was well established in the north of Ireland by the mid eighteenth century. It operated as a domestic industry, which meant that much of the spinning and most of the weaving was done in the homes of the cottiers and small farmers.
Linen manufacture often supplemented agriculture and made the growing population less dependent on land. In some areas there was an over-dependence on the income from linen sales and fluctuation in the prices of the woven cloth sometimes increased the flow of emigrants to the New World (click image to enlarge).
Many homes throughout the Ulster countryside were therefore dual-purpose dwellings. In such homes a room was laid aside for the handloom on which to weave linen. It was here that the man of the house would spend the long evenings weaving, while his wife spun the flax fibres into yarn and his children carded and combed the flax in preparation for the spinning wheel. Weavers’ cottages had to be clean and well lit because linen was easily spoiled by soot.
This particular cottage, a replica of a weaver’s house, has three rooms. The middle room houses the handloom. There is only one bedroom hence the need for the settle bed in the kitchen for children or an elderly relative to sleep in. At present, wool spinning and weaving are demonstrated in this house.
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