A rare survivor of what was once a thriving industry, John Boyd Textiles weaves cloth from horsehair to upholster elegant furniture, using a process which has hardly changed in the last 150 years
THE DAY RUNS to the beat of machines, with a metallic pulse of wheels and shafts as warp and weft entwine. Weavers move among the looms; practised eyes ensuring everything is running smoothly as elegant stripes begin to lengthen in the cloth. In many ways, the work of this small mill – built close to the river in the quiet Somerset town of Castle Cary – is like countless others around the country, but the cloth which the weavers are producing is anything but. John Boyd Textiles is the last mechanical horsehair weaver left in the world.
“This is a unique industry, and a unique fabric,” says managing director Anna Smith. “Horsehair is a sophisticated material, going back to the days of Hepplewhite and Chippendale. A lot of people think of it as being rough, but it’s actually very smooth, with a beautiful sheen to it. And it’s incredibly durable, lasting 100,000 ‘rubs’, as we say in the business, without signs of wear. That equates to approximately 100 years.” This winning combination of good looks and easy maintenance means that, while horsehair has perhaps slipped off the radar for many modern consumers, it is still prized by interior designers, architects and fashion houses the world over. The cloth that leaves Castle Cary will find its way into homes, hotels, and the odd palace, in more than 30 countries.
Long history
Before the arrival of synthetic materials, horsehair was used for items as varied as toothbrushes, fishing lines, sieves and sporrans. It was added to plaster to make it key into walls, and made the ‘crin’ which kept ladies’ crinolines in shape. It first became popular for upholstery in the mid 1700s, with Thomas Chippendale soon declaring it the only fabric good enough for his mahogany furniture. Its use blossomed throughout the next century, by which time Somerset was one of the main horsehair-producing centres in the country.
Castle Cary was at the heart of the trade. Lying deep in an agricultural, cider-making area, horses were everywhere: bred on the farms and bought and sold at local markets. Building on a tradition of flax weaving – which dated back to the 1300s – a thriving cottage industry soon developed, making cloth from cropped horses’ tails, carried out mostly by women and girls, while the men worked the land. It was this wave that was ridden by the eponymous John Boyd, who had arrived in Somerset from his native Ayrshire, hoping to establish himself as a travelling linen merchant. It is still easy to see why he decided to lay down roots in Castle Cary,
