Allhallows Museum Honiton Lace Web Site.

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Lace has been made in Honiton for over 400 years. Many people have argued over how the lace industry came to Honiton, but it is likely that the skill was bought from Italy. Honiton was already a textile town, skilled in a diversity of materials, and having a well developed system of out-workers and merchants which was suitable for the production of lace. Honiton was also a market town with trading links to London and its demand for finery. Lacemaking also spread to other towns like Axminster, Beer, Branscombe, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton and Sidmouth.

Honiton lace quickly became popular amongst the rich, both men and women, because it was a very fine lace. By 1676 there were 5,299 lacemakers in the east Devon area. One third of them lived in the Honiton , in fact 1,341 men, women and children were making lace in the houses in and around the High Street. Each village also had its complement of lacemakers.

Honiton lace was very expensive to make because the thread used was very fine and so the patterns took a long time to make. It was used to decorate the clothing of the nobility and the rich. They liked the lace made into collars, shawls, handkerchiefs, bonnets and flounces. The large pieces of lace were designed by an artist and comprise of lots of small sprigs. These individual sprigs were made by different home workers and the assembled by a specialist, ready for sale. The designs are based on flowers, animals and other natural objects.

There were many great lace merchants in and around Honiton. One of these was James Rodge, who sent large quantities of lace abroad. He died in 1617 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Michaels, Honiton. The burial register there records the death of many lace merchants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Lace was very fashionable for about 300 years and the Royal Family, in particular, has always loved Honiton lace. Queen Charlotte ordered a dress of Honiton lace from a shop in the town which was run by a Mrs Davey. Queen Adelaide also ordered a dress and requested that the design should be of flowers - the initial letter of each one spelling out her name. Queen Victoria was married in a Honiton veil and our Queen has a christening robe which has been used by her children and grandchildren.

About 200 years ago a man, called Heathcote, invented a machine to make lace and within a few years machines could make good lace, not so fine as Honiton, but very much more quickly and therefore cheaply. Because of this the hand-made lace industry began to die. Lacemakers tried to cheapen their lace, but they could not make it fast enough to compete with the machines. By 1940 nobody in Honiton was making lace for a living.

However, the craft of lacemaking lives on. There are many people who learn to make lace as a hobby and with expert teachers, like Pat Perryman, the craft will never die.

Christmas Card by Pat Perryman

Museum Page Museum Shop Honiton and how to find us
Acquisitions

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		Museum Page Museum Shop Honiton - how to find us Acquisitions


Lace has been made in Honiton for over 400 years. Many people have argued over how the lace industry came to Honiton, but it is likely that the skill was bought from Italy. Honiton was already a textile town, skilled in a diversity of materials, and having a well developed system of out-workers and merchants which was suitable for the production of lace. Honiton was also a market town with trading links to London and its demand for finery. Lacemaking also spread to other towns like Axminster, Beer, Branscombe, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton and Sidmouth.
Honiton lace quickly became popular amongst the rich, both men and women, because it was a very fine lace. By 1676 there were 5,299 lacemakers in the east Devon area. One third of them lived in the Honiton , in fact 1,341 men, women and children were making lace in the houses in and around the High Street. Each village also had its complement of lacemakers.
Honiton lace was very expensive to make because the thread used was very fine and so the patterns took a long time to make. It was used to decorate the clothing of the nobility and the rich. They liked the lace made into collars, shawls, handkerchiefs, bonnets and flounces. The large pieces of lace were designed by an artist and comprise of lots of small sprigs. These individual sprigs were made by different home workers and the assembled by a specialist, ready for sale. The designs are based on flowers, animals and other natural objects.
	There were many great lace merchants in and around Honiton. One of these was James Rodge, who sent large quantities of lace abroad. He died in 1617 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Michaels, Honiton. The burial register there records the death of many lace merchants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Lace was very fashionable for about 300 years and the Royal Family, in particular, has always loved Honiton lace. Queen Charlotte ordered a dress of Honiton lace from a shop in the town which was run by a Mrs Davey. Queen Adelaide also ordered a dress and requested that the design should be of flowers - the initial letter of each one spelling out her name. Queen Victoria was married in a Honiton veil and our Queen has a christening robe which has been used by her children and grandchildren. About 200 years ago a man, called Heathcote, invented a machine to make lace and within a few years machines could make good lace, not so fine as Honiton, but very much more quickly and therefore cheaply. Because of this the hand-made lace industry began to die. Lacemakers tried to cheapen their lace, but they could not make it fast enough to compete with the machines. By 1940 nobody in Honiton was making lace for a living.

However, the craft of lacemaking lives on. There are many people who learn to make lace as a hobby and with expert teachers, like Pat Perryman, the craft will never die. Christmas Card by Pat Perryman