Kennet Valley Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers
This weekend, 25th-26th June 2011 marks the 200th anniversary of the Newbury Coat. The story goes that back in 1811 the Greenham Mill owner, John Coxeter was heard boasting about his new machinery and his ability to turn the fleece of a sheep into a coat between the hours of sunrise and sunset. Sir John Throckmorton set a wager of 1000 guineas and the coat was made in 13 hours 20 minutes.
This record stood until 1991, when the Kennet Valley Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers made a replica coat in 12 hours 39 minutes. Now, in 2011, they are attempting to break their own record!
The record attempt will take place at the Corn Exchange Theatre in Newbury where there will be 30 people sorting and carding the fleece, 50 spinners, 10 weavers, a team of dyers and fullers, and 12 tailors working throughout the weekend.
There will be a competition to guess the time taken to complete the project, and all money raised will be donated to the Air Ambulance Charity. You will also be able to watch Morris Dancers on both Saturday and Sunday.
The full itinerary for the weekend is as follows (for further information see Visit Newbury):
Saturday 10.00am till 6.00pm – Sheep will be sheared, the wool will be picked, carded and spun and the weaving process will begin.
Sunday 11.00am until 4.00pm (Or until the last stitch is sewn) – The weaving will be finished, fulling and dyeing of the cloth will take place as will the tailoring of the coat. Sunday will also be supported by a farmers market.
The Campaign for Wool support this event, as do these other fine folk:
- Greenham Common Trust
- The Corn Exchange
- Camp Hopson
- Newbury Events
- Newbury Weekly News
- The Old Farm shop
- The British Wool Marketing Board
- The Worshipful Company of Woolmen
- The Wool Room
- Jaeger
- Huddersfield Textile Society
- Ackroyd and Dawson
- Higgs and Co
