The Ribbon Weaving History of Hillfields

The earliest evidence of a weaving industry in Hillfields was in 1685 when many French refugees settled in the Spittlemore area after the edict of Nantes. They introduced the weaving trade of silks and ribbons.  

Hillfields itself was created as mainly a ribbon weaving suburb of Coventry in 1828. Within the city there was over-crowding and squalor and the more prosperous ribbon weavers set up home in the new town of Hillfields, where properties were more spacious with gardens. Whilst the city became more dominated by factories, Hillfields was the home of independent craftsmen. The industry was initially a cottage industry with individual weaving workshops located above residential properties in "topshops". There were a large number of topshops in Hillfields as can be seen from the photos below.

King William Street - topshops on the left and in the distance on the right.	The Godiva Procession in King William Street in 1911 showing the topshops on the left..	Topshops in Payne's Lane, c1925.	Topshops in Primrose Hill Street, damaged by bombs in 1941.

In 1850 there were 13 ribbon manufacturers, 120 ribbon weavers with three or more looms, and  five machinery manufacturers in Hillfields. Ribbon weaver's houses were either two-storey or three-storey. A typical 2-storey example of the 1830's had a front and back room on the ground floor with a scullery built out at the rear, above were two bedrooms facing the street and, behind them a workshop with its large window. A 3-storey house  had a narrower frontage but greater depth, the ground floors was similarly arranged but the first floor had a front and back bedroom, while the whole of the top floor was occupied by the workshop which had windows at both ends. There were a few slightly larger houses in Hillfields occupied by small ribbon masters, but the principal manufacturers were people of substance who lived outside the area.

Several factories were built between 1852 - 1857. Steam engines at the end of the row of weaver's houses, conducted the power with shafting from one workshops to another. The cottage factory became a serious alternative to the factory. Conversion of existing three -storey weavers cottages to power and the construction of new ones took place mainly from 1847 - 1849. No new ones were started after 1859. Of the 383 - 410 cottage factories in Coventry, Hillfields had 265 - 320 of them.

Eli Green was was a wealthy ribbon manufacturer who launched an experiment by bringing together individual craft workshops with a shared power source. He built a triangle of 67 cottage homes with top shops for looms on the second floor at Vernon Street / Berry Street / Brook Street in 1858. There was a central steam engine in the middle of the development. The craftsmen worked on Eli Green's materials and sold him the finished ribbons and also paid rent for the power used. They would have to start work when the power came on, but were not working in a factory and retained some of their cherished independence. It was an approach worthy of an industry with a strong co-operative tradition, but it came too late as the industry declined shortly afterwards.

The buildings were demolished in 1971.

Vernon Street Triangle in 1970 before its demolition.	View of Vernon Street in the 1930s.

As well as craft workshops, weaving factories were eventually developed in Hillfields. The Stevengraph Factory was the most famous of Hillfields weaving factories.

There was also an elastic weaving industry in Hillfields. A factory for the weaving of elastic fabric was erected in Wheatley Street in 1857, but owing to the slump in the weaving trade before its completion, the constructor lost all of his money, so sold it to Wyley Bros. who converted it into a chemical factory. The only remaining evidence of the trade is the nearby Elastic Inn. However there must have been other elastic web factories as records show that in 1887 William Shirley's elastic web factory in Hillfields was burned out. 

The weaving industry was subject to the normal range of mishaps associated with 19th century industry. In 1859 Mary O'Donnell was killed when she was caught in the machinery that operated the looms.  In 1862, two looms were completely gutted at Moore's workshops in Payne's Lane. In 1867 Joseph Padbury was accidently killed at the Electric Weaving Factory.

The weaving industry was supported by many ancilliary companies, such as loom manufacturers Thomas Wilkinson, in Payne's Lane.

The weaving industry went into long term decline in 1860 following a Government decision to remove the protective duty on foreign ribbons. The last remaining weaving factory, the Stevengraph works, closed after it was bombed during the blitz.

Supplementary Information about the Weaving Industry in Hillfields

An extract from an unpublished account of Mid Victorian Coventry including an account of the Silk Ribbon industry of Hillfields and a comparison with Gosford Street based on the 1851 and 1861 census is available to view of download in pdf format. [New]

The Weavers and Watchmakers of Hillfields by S.L.Sidwell [New]

School children might like to read about the Weaving Family at Albert Street [New]