Page 18 - The Long Crendon Connection

Redditch Heritage The Long Crendon Connection

Redditch and Needle Making

Until the the 16th century needle making in Britain had been carried out by the local blacksmith,
or whitesmith (workers in tin), who would have supplied the needs of their immediate neighbours.
Typically these needles would have been made from sheet iron cut into lengths which was then
hammered and rolled to the thickness required. The points would then hand filed, with the eye
created by flattening the head and then forcing a hole through it with a punch. This time consuming
process resulted in a functional but poor quality needle. The process was slightly more advanced
on the continent where the best quality needles were being made from high quality drawn steel
wire in centres like Toledo and Nuremberg, in what are now Spain and Germany respectively. It
would take political and religious unrest in Europe, forcing the migration of some of these foreign
needle makers, to England to bring positive change to production methods in Britain. Largely
speaking these emigres were Flemish Huguenots – Protestant workers and artisans – escaping
Catholic persecution in France for Elizabethan tolerance in England. These foreign craftsmen
settled along the Thames in central London as well as in the provinces including Chichester, Long
Crendon and around Studley and Redditch in the Midlands. The new skills these craftsmen brought
with them meant that needle making moved away from the blacksmiths realm into a dedicated
cottage industry purely focused on needles. A guild of master needle makers was founded in
London in 1656, called The Worshipful Company of Needle Makers with its charter granted by
Oliver Cromwell.
In the areas around Redditch the earliest reference to needle making was recorded in 1639. This
cluster of migrant needle makers stretched from Henley-in-Arden to Stoke Prior and from Alcester
to Kings Norton. Redditch sat in the in the middle of this area but it wasn’t until 1700 that records
show Redditch had become an active focus for needle production. At this time there were about
600 needle makers around Redditch, with power for the manufacturing process being supplied
by a network of streams and rivers such as the River Arrow. This use of water power, primarily
to polish the needles, gave the Redditch needle makers a technical advantage over their
competition elsewhere in the country. The needles they made were less expensive to produce
and of a higher quality. Over time other manufacturers find themselves unable to compete and
eventually closed down, some even taking the radical step of moving their whole operation,
including workers, to the Redditch area.
During the 17th and early 18th centuries needle making remained a cottage industry but one
with a fair degree of organisation. Steel wire was drawn in Birmingham and then sent out to
needle producers in the adjacent towns of Studley, Alcester, Henley-in Arden and Redditch. Some
workers carried out all the stages of needle production, whilst others specialised in certain areas.
One such specialisation was needle pointing which up until 1870 was done by hand. This was the
best paid job available, but it was also the most dangerous. Apart from the physical dangers from
slivers of metal flying up into workers eyes, or the potential for the grindstone to shatter, there
was always an unseen danger from inhaling the dust from the needles and the grindstone. Through
continued exposure pointers would often contract a crippling lung disease called Pointers Rot.
The average life expectancy of a pointer during this period was no more than 35 years. These
were occupations that were also open to women, at least outside London. Another factor in the
migration of crafts people to the regions was that needle manufacture in London was being stifled
through by-laws which prevented, for example, women from working in needle making within the
boundaries of Greater London.
By the mid 18th century new machines were introduced to increase productivity to meet national
demand but also to supply a growing world wide market centred on the British colonies. By 1850,
the work of cutting and pointing the needle wire moved inside factories and Redditch was killing
off their competition by being the only British centre making needles on an industrial scale.
Migration to the area continued until about 1862, and alongside this growth needle scouring mills
and factories were built up across the region. By 1866 there were nearly 100 million needles
produced each year in Britain, and by the end of the century Redditch, and the surrounding district

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