The History of Ruskin Lace
began in 1883 as a result of an idea revealed by John Ruskin and put
into practise by Albert Fleming, a friend of John Ruskin and a fellow
trustee to the Guild of St. George. A Trust founded to assist craft
workers establish their business. In this instance to set up a Cottage Industry of spinning and
weaving of linen as there had been a previous history of this occupation
in the locality. The first
spinning wheel was to arrive from the Laxey Woollen Industry on the Isle
of Man who had previously been a beneficiary
of the Guild of St. George, this duly arrived at Neaum Crag in
the hamlet of Skelwith Bridge at the foot of the Langdale valley, the
home of Albert Fleming. Here
Marion Twelves who had come north
from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire as housekeeper to Albert Fleming took
up the challenge to make the spinning wheel work and then pass her
newfound knowledge on to others in the Langdale valley.
A local carpenter reproduced other spinning wheels and a premises
acquired by the Guild of St. George to accommodate the necessary
equipment at Elterwater, another hamlet in the Langdale valley.
When the spinners were proficient they could take their wheels home
and were paid the rate of 2s/6d per pound.
The yarn then needed to be woven, the first length of Linen came
off the loom, Easter 1884, though this fabric was of interesting
texture, the spinners quickly become more skilled.
The result was to produce articles from the linen with a variety
of embroidery applied, one type being what is now called Ruskin Lace.
John Ruskin is proclaimed to have brought patterns of needlemade
lace from Italy where he saw examples on church linen, no evidence as to
in what form these patterns came has been found, it is felt that if
Marion Twelves had a physical piece of work to guide her, the work that
was given the name ‘Greek Lace’ would not have been worked as she
adapted the technique, to work the pattern directly on to the linen, as
the work that John Ruskin saw was most probably worked as a motif and
then applied to the linen.
1889 Marion Twelves, took her industry to
Keswick to work with Mrs Canon Rawnsley, leaving Mrs Elizabeth Pepper an
already skilled spinner, weaver and needlewoman in charge of the
industry at Elterwater. This
venture would appear to flourish for a number of years, according to an
order book now in the Ruskin Museum, before moving the Industry to Tilberthwaite, just a few miles from Elterwater.
An alter cloth was worked and gifted to the local church at that
time, this is now in the Ruskin Museum, unfortunately in a rather
fragile state, having been miss treated and stored in a starched state.
The industry continued for a number of years, then gradually
declining during the First World War years.
During that time many exhibitions had been attended including the
Home Arts exhibitions that were held in the Albert Hall in London, as a
result of this contact Elizabeth Pepper was invited to teach Queen Alexandra to
spin at Sandringham in Norfolk. There
are many artefacts relating to this era in the museum.
The bag on the left was
worked in Coniston and sold at a Craft Exhibition in 1916 for 12/6p
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