the story of wool

a cameo of commonwealth wool

Historically, British woollen cloth was so refined that it was cherished by Roman emperors for being "so fine it was comparable with a spider's web." So it was by the 12th century that wool had become one of England's greatest national assets, mostly through export.

Political strife put an end to peak production in the 13th century, as did the war with France and the Black Death. Replace with: It was the approach of Kind Edward III (reigned 1327-77) who worked with the Flemish master weavers that restored England's reputation.

At the end of the 17th century six Merino sheep arrived in the South African cape intended for the Dutch King. However, it took two years for those six sheep to finally reach the King having left behind a flock for the tending garrison!

The great Australian wool trade was born in the 1810s when the British occupied the Cape and commandeered the Merino flocks and shipped them to Sydney. In 1815 demand for Australian wool spiked because of demand from the Napoleonic Wars, establishing a foothold in the English market. The Australian Merino flocks had evolved to produce 'the softest and finest fleece of wool'.

In the 1850s, the introduction of sheep farming to New Zealand caused an economic boom. This was mirrored 100 years later when US stockpiling of wool for the Korean War tripled the price of Antipodean wool overnight.