1 - Wool, Wool, Wool
by Tim Childerhouse

Somewhere in the late Middle-ages; it was said of wool (presumably by a politician) "it is the flower and strength, the revenue and blood of England". Another quote from centuries back concerned shepherds: "workers of such great worth that their reward reaches greater yet than twelve shillings (60p) in each winter week". Such was the significance of the wool industry, and the hamlet of Aldershot was very much a part thereof; as the following historic piece demonstrates : -

The visitor to the House of Lords, looking respectfully upon the assembly, cannot fail to notice a stout ungainly object facing the throne; an ungainly object upon which; in full-session of Parliament; will be seated the Lord Chancellor of England. The object is a woolsack[1], and it is stuffed as full of pure history as the office of the Chancellor itself. It reminds a modern generation that the greatness of our country was built up not upon the flimsy machines and instruments manufactured in the Far East and the rest of the world, nor upon the cold metal dug from the bowels of the earth, but upon the Wool which, generation after generation, has grown on the backs of our black-faced sheep.

Cont....

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1. The Woolsack - is a seat stuffed with wool on which the Lord Chancellor sits. It was introduced by King Edward III (1327-77) and originally stuffed with English wool as a reminder of England's traditional source of wealth, the wool trade, and as a sign of prosperity. Today the Woolsack is stuffed with wool from each of the countries of the Commonwealth, to symbolise unity.    (back) (top)