Bedfordshire Lace - a history

There are written records of lace being taught at Eaton Socon dated 1596 when a poor woman (Goodwife Clarke) was paid 2d (old currency) to teach poor children to make Lace.

The wording of Eaton Socon Work house Records 1596

In High Wycombe (Bucks) there is a will dated 1595 which asks for their daughter to be taught to make bone lace amongst other crafts.

So lace making has been known in the area for over 400 years.

What this lace was like we have no idea, as no description is given, we can only presume that it must be similar to that shown in the portraits of the wealthy of the time. It is often difficult in the portraits to tell the difference between Needle Lace and Bobbin Lace and edgings could be a mixture of both types of lace. Below is a reconstruction of early lace.

Bobbins too were different at this time, being slim with bulbous ends and no spangles.

Later it became a Point Ground Lace, which we know today as Bucks Point. But how and why did it change to the lace we now associate with the Bedfordshire/Northants area? Whether it is Floral Bedfordshire (as designed by T Lester and Sons) or Cluny/Maltese Bedfordshire.

The early 1800s was a prosperous time for the English Lacemakers. The fashion at the time required a soft flowing lace which suited the Point Ground Lace. There was the war with France, this together with import tariffs on Continental Laces which protected the English Lacemakers, and made the industry a profitable one.

But this was soon to change.

By the 1820s machines started to produce nets which were then used to mounts the Honiton Lace Sprigs which was quicker and easier than a ground being produced by hand.

Twenty years later improved machines began to copy the East Midland Lace, first the simple patterns and then the more complicated ones.

What was the Lace Maker to do? As the lacemakers were amongst the poor of the land with little education, lace being made mainly by the women as a much needed supplement the family income. Lacemaking is a skilled craft, but they did not have the skill or expertise to combat the machine made lace effectively or how to fight this threat to their livelihood.

They went one of two ways, either to produce better and more complicated designs that would be difficult for the machines to copy.

This was the way that the firm of Thomas Lester went. Producing beautiful flowing and complicated designs. Sometimes using Honiton fillings.

His Lace was exhibited at the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace.

The mat, below, was reconstructed by Mrs Pat Hansford, and is of the Rose and Thistle design.

Or they could simplify their patterns so that they could be made more quickly.

They copied the French Cluny patterns but as they were not taught the techniques that were used in France to make this lace, they had to use their own point ground techniques and so produced a lace that was uniquely their own. To speed up work, trails were loosely joined by plaits and leaves. A nine pin edging was often used which gave an attractive edge to the lace and covered space without using too much thread.

Some edgings were produced some quite intricate using fillings borrowed from other types of lace but others that were produced by the mile. One with a wavy trail going through it was know as the great river, after the river Ouse, and was produced in many different variations as each village would have its own version.

As the need to compete with machines increased so the standard of work frequently decreased. And because Bedfordshire Cluny was not a geometric lace it could be made to go into different shapes, (it was reasonably quick and fast to make.) It could take a thicker thread and was often used for table mats and edgings.

In the early 1900 some really atrocious Bedfordshire lace was made, and this gave Bedfordshire lace a bad name.

Some patterns could be combinations of the softer flowing designs of Floral Beds together with that of Beds Cluny, which really does give you a hybrid lace!

It is tragic that Bedfordshire lace designs have deteriorated the way they have because at its best it is really superb.

(A cross made by Mrs Jenny Furlong from a pattern at the Northampton Museum.)

Bedfordshire Lace Gallery

These items were made by members of the Cleveland Lace Guild.

If you have made any Bedfordshire Lace and would like it displayed on our Bedfordshire Gallery to be shared with other lace Enthusiasts please email us a photo and we will add it to our Gallery.

Further Reading

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