Discovering Wool

We're putting together here some resources for education which can be used in schools or at home. They're centred round the wool industry of Norfolk and Suffolk, the home counties of the Paston, their friends and their rivals. We hope that these first units will be of interest and we'll be adding to them in the course of this year, 2022.

A general background can be found on this page, from medieval times to the present. It has links to members of the Paston family and some of their letters which mention the importance of the wool produced by the sheep of their tenants

An interactive colouring and writing page to encourage students to explore the roles of those who kept sheep, processed the fleeces and sold the wool.

We'll shortly be adding the next page with more information or carding, spinning, weaving and dyeing.

Keep an eye out for opportunities to expand understanding. In Norfolk there is often a chance to see the Worstead Weavers, spinners and Dyers demonstrating their various skills, and places like the National Trust Farm at Felbrigg offer the chance so see lambing and shearing at the appropriate time of the year.