Sheep and Wool Processing

Sheep were washed and shorn in June and the wool sorted for sale. To be used for cloth manufacture it was carded and spun, either on a spindle and distaff or, from the early 14th century, on a spinning wheel. The woollen yarn produced was then woven. The earliest medieval looms were narrow, limiting the size of the finished cloth, but in the mid-13th century the broadloom was introduced, allowing cloths measuring 24 by 1¾ yards (21.9 x 1.6m) to be produced by two weavers sitting side by side.