Education - Leeds Civic Trust

Leeds Civic Trust was founded in 1965 and is an independent, non political, voluntary organisation made up of people who live or work in Leeds and are keen to promote its improvement.

The Director of the Trust, Dr Kevin Grady is giving a series of "Leeds in Your Lunch-Hour" talks each Wednesday in February. I apologise for not mentioning these before but there's still time to get to next week's at Holy Trinity Church, on the subject of Lost C18 & C19 Churches and Chapels in the City Centre.

Minnie Woodward spent 62 hours hand stitching this piece on printed fabric.

Education - Clothworker's Court

The craft of the Clothworker was the 'finishing' of woven cloth. The fuller's part was to cleanse and thicken the cloth when it came from the weaver including removing loose particles and raising the nap using teasel. The shearman then 'set' the cloth, cutting off the roughened fibres with broad shears.

I was over in Headingley yesterday so thought I would go to find the teasel on the building. In the first picture it's obscured by the arch, but it's a sunny picture of the Clothworker's Court from more or less the same angle as the representation on the Education panel.





Below are the three gables in the court, with what looks like an indigo plant on the left, teasel in the centre and madder root on the right.




There are other indicators on the building about its origins, including the Civic Trust plaque



and a wonderful plaque on the 1910 extension showing the size of the donation given by the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers.