Honiton

My visit to Honiton in Devon was on a hot and sunny day. I was received by the lovely people of the Allhallows Lace Museum, next to the church in the centre of the town. The very friendly  'lace keeper'  showed me the pieces on display in the museum and a whole treasure trove of early lace pieces kept in storage. The place is small but full of character and full of the most beautiful Honiton lace.

Honiton lace refers to a type of handmade lace, initially made in this region. Nowadays it is made all over the world. People probably started making Honiton lace in this area in the late sixteenth century. Honiton lace is a bobbin lace (contrary to needle lace), where bone or wooden bobbins are used to wind the often linen thread on. The industry was fairly  well established during the reign of James I in the early 17th century. The lace was made famous in the 19th century by queen Victoria, whose wedding gown was made from Honiton lace. The lace made in this area was not made in factories but at home by local women. They would take their work to a local trader who would sew their pieces together to make a large piece. On average a lace maker would produce a square inch of lace per day. The style of Honiton lace is a little like Brussels styled part-lace ( made in parts). Because of the fact that it was made in parts, the lace makers could specialise in the particular pictorial nature of Honiton lace. Each maker would create a scene or a picture and it would later be joined together to make a big piece. Honiton lace often shows birds, plants and insects in the design.

For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote during the BP Travel Award project (2 years), please see this page on my blog!

More Lace Posts:
The Pearl Necklace
Idrija Lace
An Overview of Early Lace
A Visit to Honiton