Page 12 - The Long Crendon Connection

Redditch Heritage The Long Crendon Connection

too difficult - but by 1660s it was thriving. By the beginning of the 18th century needle makers
in Long Crendon were producing heavier types of needles which were used for making sails and
tents. Despite a decline in die industry around the 1820s, die village enjoyed a renaissance in
die early 1850s when Kirby Beard's pin manufactory of Gloucestershire leased 23, Chilton Road
bringing a small workforce from Redditch to train Long Crendon workers in more modern methods
of needle production. Despite building up a work force of almost 100, the needle making industry
in the village went into decline once again due to the cost of coal and competition from the
Midlands and in 1862, Kirby Beard left the village taking two-thirds of the younger worker back
to Redditch. A number of individuals continued to make needles on a small scale and it was not
until the end of the 19th century that the industry died out completely in the village.

Initially needles were made in former agricultural barns, in linked terrace houses along die High
Street or in small
workshops which were built at the back of cottages. In a number of cottages in the High Street
needle cupboards still survive between adjacent buildings (e.g. nos. 7, 9 High Street) through
which needles were pushed to undergo the next process in their manufacturer. Cupboards were
also built in die angle of chimney corners where the needles could be kept dry and free of rust.

Source: Old-Time Tools and Toys of Needlework By Gertrude Whiting

A Needle Maker cottage in Long Crendon

Page: 11