A genius loci audit is used to find the essence of a place. By surveying the landscape, and gathering data from the mineral, plant, and mineral kingdoms we form a more profound perception of place. Coupling the data from the natural kingdoms with the historical records, we can discern how past generations used the land, and which crafts and activities naturally accommodate the lay of the land.

Today, the world is highly globalised, and we are losing the authentic culture of places. Furthermore, the internet has given rise to distance annihilating technologies, that enable us to be anywhere at any time. When that which is remote becomes familiar, that which is familiar becomes remote. The modern world has made it easy to forget where we are.

A genius loci audit compels us to study the environment, landscape, and historical records of a place in great detail. It dissuades us from making any changes that would cause harm to the natural environment and invites us to be harmonious with the spirit of the place. From this research, we will identify the crafts and culture-specific to a locality.

In a time when globalisation continues to advance, it is an opportunity to observe. As Marcel Proust famously writes “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.”

The Locality For This Genius Loci Audit

(1.2) My genius loci audit is centred on the site of Ruskin Mill College, in the Cotswolds (Gloucestershire). Focusing on the hamlets of Horsley, and Nailsworth to a lesser degree. 

Ruskin Mill College is set in 140 acres, with a biodynamic farm, woodlands, a trout farm, a market garden, and an array of craft workshops ranged throughout the site. The college provides Practical Skills Therapeutic Education to young people, grounded on the landscape, and craft projects.

I hope that by undertaking this audit I will see how the genius loci influenced the establishment of craft and land-based activities at Ruskin Mill College, and identify a new workshop for the practical skills and therapeutic education curriculum based on the findings of the genius loci audit.

Gathering Information For A Genius Loci Audit

(1.1) On the 21st of November, we were then invited for a silent walk from Ruskin Mill to the Field Centre, passing through the various zones and workshops on site. Aongus Gordon, the founder of Ruskin Mill Trust, instructed us to collect four objects during the walk, from the mineral kingdom (stones, clay, coal), the animal kingdom (wool, feathers, skin, shells), the plant kingdom (flowers, leaves, twigs), and the human kingdom (packaging, plastic, art, tools). The walk took around two hours, we stopped at various points to focus our attention onto importance views, and aspects of the landscape.

After the walk, we placed our findings into a mandala, a ring for each of the four kingdoms. I think that this process is a great way to begin a genius loci audit. Each person had collected objects that appealed to them at different points during the walk, and together we are able to summarize the four kingdoms present at Ruskin Mill.

The ring representing the animal kingdom had a lot of wool, also, the ring representing the human kingdom included a plaited piece of wool and a dyed piece of wool. From this simple exercise, it is hinted that wool and sheep may be important to the genius loci of the area.

Following on from the Spirit of Place seminar, I have been observing the area during the college day, and on local walks, seeking to identify distinctive features across the landscape, and feelings that arise from certain places. I have also been collecting historical, geological, topographical, and environmental resources, which I will try to summarise here.

This genius loci audit will be divided into the following three stages:

Stage One: The Mineral Kingdom (Geography, Geology, Mineralogy) The Foundation on which all the activities will unfold.

Stage Two: The Plant Kingdom, which plants are the most significant to the local area?

Stage Three: The Animal Kingdom, an investigation into the local agriculture, and wildlife.

Weaved through each of these three stages, will be the Human Kingdom, so we can see how humans have influenced the natural kingdoms, and how the natural kingdoms have influenced humans?

Stage One: The Mineral Kingdom

(1.3) The landscape and geology of Horsley dictated the choice in building materials available to the population, and the types of trades to have arisen in the early stages of industrialism.

The geomorphological past of the Horsley, following on from the Last Great Ice Age (13,000 years ago) has produced numerous plateaus, steeply tilted, and wide-open valleys. The freezing, and thawing process caused a softening of the limestone, which became known as Cotswold Brash. This weak limestone, along with the soft clays has caused much instability across the valley in ancient and recent times, this is seen today with the deformation of road surfaces, restored walls, and the removal of many historic buildings. (By looking at the first map at the top of this article from 1882 you can see how many buildings there once were in Horsley when compared to contemporary maps)

Most of the Hamlets of Horsley sit on top of the Great Oolite Group (GOG), a mixed set of marine deposits, limestones, mudstones, and Oolite sediments, its runs from the Dorset coast, to the Humber Estuary in the North East of England. The solid geology of the area was formed during the Jurassic age (206 to 144 million years ago) when Horsley would have been covered by a warm sea. The sandstone was formed by grains of sands, and the Oolites were formed from the skeletons of marine organisms, along with fragments of coral that once lived here.

The map above displays the Great Oolite Group (GOG) extending from the Dorset Coast to Burford, Oxfordshire, encompassing a large proportion of the Cotswolds area. Horsley and Nailsworth lie south from Stroud. Interestingly, if you compare the map above with the map of the bedrock of Horsley below, you can see that Nailsworth and Horsey are both surrounded by the GOG, but the Bridport Sand Formation is what Nailsworth is built upon, and it also travels down the valley passing through the centre of Horsley, with GOG on either side.

The Bridport Sand Formation was formed prior to the Great Oolite Group, in the early Jurassic age, and it was once called Cotteswold Sands.

The abundance of freestones, ragstones and states of the Great Oolite Group, has enabled the Cotswolds to form its own recognisable character, the stones used for the buildings, and dry stone walls bring so much beauty to the area. Furthermore, the limestones, porous in nature served to create aquifers that the inhabitants could reach with wells.

The bedrock of Horsley, and the surrounding area is shown above. You can see the prominence of Athelstan Oolite Formation, Fuller’s Earth Formation and Forest Marble Formation all of which are sub-units of The Great Oolite Formation.

Forest Marble was a popular limestone roofing slate, it was widely used from Dorset to Oxford.

Fuller’s Earth gets its name from Fulling, a process in woollen cloth-making to clean, eliminate oils, and thicken the wool. Fuller’s earth is a thick bed of clay, the mineral Bentonite contained in fullers earth is what removed the grease from woollen fleeces. Fuller’s earth contributed greatly to the success of the Cotswold Wool Trade in the middle ages, supporting the area to produce some of the finest woollen fleeces in the whole of Britain. This is a clear example of how the underlying mineral kingdom influenced a local craft.

I have been learning Pottery every Wednesday morning at Ruskin Mill, the workshop is located next to a bank of clay. Also, when digging close to the market garden you can see that the soil has a large amount of clay. The clay which is found in the fullers earth is not of a composition that would survive the firing process. The clay tutor mixes clay from onsite, with two-thirds of other clays which make it more marriable, and pliant. The clay workshop has been influenced by the genius loci of the area, and the students that come to Ruskin Mill take a piece of the mineral kingdom home with them when they make an item of pottery.

Stage Two: The Plant Kingdom

All of the kingdoms of nature influence each other. The mineral kingdom serves as the foundation, upon which the plant kingdom can thrive, and the plant kingdom provides nourishment and habitats for the animal kingdom. Across Horsley, there is a mix of woodlands, wetlands, meadows, streams, and ponds helping the area to support many species such as the Green Woodpecker, Siver-washed Fritillary Butterfly, and Dippers.

Woodlands

Two woodlands within Horsley Parish, Horsley Woods, and Kingscote are designated as Sites Of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) both being excellent representatives of ancient Beech fagus sylvatica dominated woodlands, with some Ash fraxinus excelsior and, Oak Quercus robur. 

The understorey of these ancient woodlands is made up of Hazel Corylus avellana, and Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, Wych Elm ulmus glabra, with Beech, and Ash regrowth. These two ancient woodlands support many species of plants and animals. Looking at the map below from 1923, you can see Kingscote Woods south-west of Horsley, with Horsley Woods linking Kingscote to the town. The woodland boundaries across Horsley haven’t changed greatly for hundreds of years.  

In 1262, during the middle ages, a charcoal-burner was recorded in Horsley, hardwoods such as Beech or Oak that we abundant in the ancient forest around Horsley are likely to have been prefered. In 1327, there was a bowyer in Horsley, someone who makes Longbows or Flat bows. Yew is most associated with longbows, however, the English Yew becomes too brittle as it drys, so the local bowyer may have opted for Wych Elm (which the Welsh used), or Ash (which strengthens over years of drying), or Hawthorn (which can make a reasonable flat bow.)

Herb Paris Paris quadrifolia or True Lovers Knot has been found in Horsley, it is an indicator of ancient woodlands, and is in decline right across Europe because its habitat is being disturbed. It flowers from June to July and produces a single blue berry in its centre, which is poisonous. In medieval times the plant was used in marriage rituals, and to ward off witches (because of its celestial symmetry)

The exploitation of the woodlands in the early 19th century created a lot of employment, in 1811 there were 14 carpenters, 12 saddle tree makers (wooden horse saddles), 11 sawyers (saws timber), 2 timber-dealers, 2 chairmakers, 2 wheelwrights, and a woodcutter.

Wetlands

Boggy wetlands and marshes can be found across Horsely, which support many species, such as Water Mint Mentha aquatica, Great Willow Herb Epilobium hirsutum, Meadow Sweet Filipendula ulmaria, and many species of grassy Sedges Carex, all of which flourish in the damp ground, attracting wetland insects. 

Meadows

Grasslands and Meadows are located throughout Horsley, above Downend, there is an ancient grassland which is a UK Priority Habitat among the last remaining 2% of hay meadows in Britain. It supports a diverse range of wildflowers and grass species. 

The meadows are home to over 40 wildflowers including Cowslips Primula veris, Salad-burnet Sanguisorba minor, Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis, and Knapweed Centaurea, some of the meadows showcase clusters of characteristic flowers such as the Stemless Thistle Cirsium acaule, and Fairy Flax Linum catharticum, that enjoy the shallow limestone soil. These meadows on the valley slopes of Horsley act as an important habitat for bees and are a bounty of biodiversity. 

Streams and Ponds

Many springs emerge out from the limestone aquifers present in the valley forming many high energy streams which spill over to create wet woodlands, and marshes that support tall fen vegetation. The fast flowing water has been harnessed in the past to support the wool industry, but today the water converges into large open ponds.

Some of the springs in Horsley are protected priority habitats due to active tufa deposits calcium carbonate, which is a variety of limestone that forms when carbonate minerals precipitate out of the streams at ambient temperatures. The tufa supports particular mosses. 

Stage Three: The Animal Kingdom

Place of Horses

Horsley is believed to have been named after a 7th-century phrase, horse-lega meaning ‘place of horses‘ which shows that horses may have been significant during the early medieval period. Additionally, there was an inn called The Black Horse, half a mile south of Barton End, recorded in 1769. Later in 1824, a corn mill was also recorded of the same name. Also in 1811, there were 12 wooden saddlemakers in Horsley, occupying a large percentage of the available workforce. The Horse’s Mouth is the name a monthly newsletter for the town.

Sheep & The Woolen Industry

The importance of sheep to the Cotswolds is no secret. The name may even be derived from “Cots” meaning a sheep enclosure, and “wolds” meaning hilly pastures. The wool trade in Medieval England was the backbone of the economy. The open field arrangement supported vast flocks of Cotswold Sheep known as “Cotswold Lions” named because of its size, long fleece, and heavy wool. It was once known that the best wool in Europe was English and the best wool in England was Cotswold.

The wool from the sheep of the Cotswolds supported Italy’s economic preeminence prior to the sixteenth century and produced new wealth to the Cotswolds. The Italian textile industries became reliant on the very finest wools from England to produce luxury woollens that would be exported to much of Christian Europe, the Islamic world in the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century England came to pose the most powerful threat to Italian commerce when they began to produce it’s own fine woollen cloths.

The wool trade across Europe lead to a commercial revolution that forged the way to rapid economic and population growth, and the Cotswold’s wool was at the heart, in fact, the Italians even had their own name for the Cotswolds, which became Contisgualdo. The Venetians, Florentines, and the Genoese purchased sacks of raw wool, that were often imported by the sea in Galleys, directly from Southampton, the cost of transport added 25% to the cost of each sack of wool.

In Horsley in 1332, during the height of the wool trade, it is said that “the lord’s flock comprised 307 wethers, 285 sheep, 168 rams, and 200 lambs, 3 shepherds were employed with 2 boys to assist at lambing”. The sales of sheepskin, coarse wool and fine wool were an important source of income.

Common of pasture was a valuable asset to the tenants of the manor who grazed their sheep on the manor, in the middle of the 16th century the tenants became restricted to 100 sheep per yardland (30 acres), becoming 80 sheep per yardland in 1630, and access taken from smaller open fields. Bylaws were later drawn to regulate the use of the pastures, and six sheep-tellers were appointed to survey the land on a quarterly basis. Fourteen of the tenants, comprising responsibility for over 1000 sheep, agreed to finance any activities that need to be brought against individuals who failed to comply with the new bylaws.

In 1608, there was, a dyer, 13 tuckers, and 40 weavers living in Horsley. It shows the larger picture of the Cotswolds transitioning from exporting raw wool to exporting finished woollen cloth. In 1811, in the early stages of the industrial revolution, 19 clothiers, 172 weavers, 19 shearmen, 14 spinners, 4 cloth-workers, 3 blue-dyers, 2 wool-pickers, 2 jerry-spinners, 2 millwrights, a shuttle maker, and a yarn maker were all recorded at Horsley.

The Decline Of Horsley: The Doom Of The Weavers

(2.2) The 19th century brought many economical and societal changes, which found its way into the small villages of Gloucestershire, the fortunes of which were fastened to the woollen industries.

In Horsley and Nailsworth, skilled weavers suddenly found themselves out of employment, as modern inventions such as the power loom could do the work of four men.

In 1841 there was a Royal Commission Of Inquiry into the Condition of the Hand-Loom Weavers in England and Wales. The report includes a letter written by the chairman of the delegates of weavers of Gloucestershire, addressed to Her Majestys commissioner in London.

In the passionate letter by Timothy Exelll, we are provided with a history of the woollen trade, which explicates the path to stikes, and reduced wages for the weavers of Gloucestershire.

The 16th Century carried protectionist regulations to the woollen industry. Timothy writes “Queen Elizabeth signed and sealed the trade of weaving by law to the weavers themselves, which laws protected the weaver and manufacturer”.

One law required that no weaver follow the trade without having first served a lawful apprenticeship of seven years, or having served in the army. Another restricted a weaver from keeping more than two looms to make a profit, which prevented a monopolisation of the industry.

Further down the historic timeline, Timothy states that “in the reign of King George II, in the year 1728, the weavers’ wages were fixed by the magistrates at the quarter sessions at Gloucester”

On the 15th October 1756, another agreement was made in Gloucester to fix wages of the weavers and clothiers which led to a renaissance period for the workers. Timothy writes that the clothes were “contented with their trade…many of them became rich and opulent men; they were not only worth their thousands and their tens of thousands but their scores of thousands of pounds, and their weavers lived in credit by their trade” the weaver’s cottages “appeared happy and contented” and the weavers themselves were able to set aside enough money for when the day of sickness and old ages comes “It was seldom that a weaver appeared at the parish for relief”.

Mr Exell looks to the past as a golden age for the weaver, when there were no “masters to oppress and reduce, no combinations of weavers to stand up against unwarranted deductions; no alarm in the country amongst the tradesmen” it was a time of stability and “peace and content sat upon the weaver’s brow”.

The Condition Of The Hand Loom Weavers Of Horsley and Nailsworth

The report includes first-hand accounts from weavers who lived and worked in Horsley, and Nailsworth and gives stark insights into the hardships faced by the past generations that wondered through the same fields, and streets as we do today.

The report for the West of England was carried out by W.A Miles, who gives this introduction “I proceeded on the duties of the commission with which I had the honour to be trusted, and have in the course of my investigations visited North Wales (flannel), Kidderminster (carpets), Witney (blankets, Waggon tilts), Hereford (coarse linen), Ludlow (flannel), Bristol (sacking and tarpaulin), and Gloucestershire (woollen cloths)“.

The conditions of the weavers were so dire that many prefered the condition of a prisoner “Mr. Marklove, the governor of Horsley prison, has informed me that weavers who may have been committed are actually grateful for the daily food they have received, and they leave the prison with regret, not knowing where to obtain the next meal.” Inside the report it was calculated that the cost of food and clothing for five individuals in Horsley prison, was more than the “entire earnings of an honest family”

Horsley Prison or House of Correction opened in 1791, it’s important to note that prisoners were split into four groups depending on age and strength, and they were set to work. The labour originally included cloth dyeing, domestic, garden chores, but later in the 1830s, a treadmill was installed to provide power for the mill which was very physically demanding on the prisoners.

However, an increase in illnesses resulting from the work eventually led to visiting surgeons refusing to allow certain prisoners to do the work. Regardless, many weavers still preferred the conditions of Horsley Prison to the outside even “the condition of a pauper in the workhouse may be presumed to be superior to the condition of a’ weavers family.”

In the commissioner’s report, we are given a deep insight into the life of a weaver born in Horsley in the 1790s. The encounter between Jonathan Cole and the interviewer took place on the 28th June 1838, on the day of the coronation of Queen Victoria “when the weavers and others were enjoying the holiday, I entered the neatest cottage I ever saw. I was attracted to it by the click of the loom, a sound unusual on a general holiday: the owner of this cottage was in his loom, hard at work.”

Jonathan Coles “father was a weaver and taught him, and he went home to work in one of his father’s looms, at the age of 17; is now 48 years of age.” He was “married, but had no children; his wife was poorly and earned but little”

He worked hard at the loom “earned only 4 shillings a week” and lived on bread and water to save money. With his earnings he bought “4 looms, second-hand, one at a time… these looms had pretty constant work for 10 years” which allowed him to make more money.

In 1824 “he bought a piece of ground to build a small cottage, but his neighbours persuaded him to build a larger one, to his cost; he did so by borrowing money” He obtained his furniture for a club costing 1 Shilling each week. Jonathan states he “lived pretty well; had a joint of meat a week, and some beer in the house; repairs and furniture took a good deal of his money”.

In the years following the construction of his house, his fate, and the fate of many weavers took a turn for the worst. A “strike took place, he was persuaded to turn out; was compelled not to take out work at the lower price, and got turned off by his master, who never employed him again, and he has not been able to get regular work since” he did some work but was never paid, and could never find a purchaser for his looms.

The evidence of Johnathan continues, and he states the changes in wages following the strikes. “The wages were lowered to 30s…from 35s….three or four years ago were lowered to 20s….now 18s. 8p. and glue” The lengths also changed following the strike “instead of being 28 ells, is 33 ells.” (An ell is 45 inches. [s] shilling)

To make a bare subsistence, he would have to work from “five till eight, or as long as he could see, in the summer, and by candles in winter”, candles at his own expense, If he “was called upon to pay all he owes his whole property, at the present prices, would hardly pay his debts, and he should be turned into the streets without the means of providing for himself”

He could go to work in a shop loom but then his own tools and looms would be useless he states that in his parish of Horsley “there is an allotment of land for every person in distress; knows some weavers have got it, and that it almost maintains them”.

In 1835, four years before Johnathan’s statement there were 26 acres, 3 roods, and 2 perch of land put aside for allotments. The allotments were in three parts across the parish of Horsley (There are four roods in an acre, and in turn, a rood contains 40 perches.) Each person was entitled to 1 rood.

The allotment holder had to agree that the crops be varied and that they put 12-16 loads of manure per acre back into the soil each year, the cost of manure at the time was about 3 shillings a-load. If the holder did not manure his allotment than he would likely be dismissed. Most of the holders grew potatoes and corn, and many kept pigs. Everything was grown for their own use, and any selling was prohibited.

The allotment system was effective at keeping the men of Horsley from the beer houses, which were causing many problems for the working man. But more importantly, the allotments keep people from staving, especially during the harsh winter months, during the decline of the woollen trade in Horsley many applied for allotments until there were more applications than could be supplied with the land.

Concluding the evidence of the weaver from Horsley, Johnathon states that he “does not know the cause of the distress, except that there are more hands than can do the work, and does not know a remedy”

Additional evidence in the report is given by John Tabram “an auctioneer and appraiser at Nailsworth; has lived there 24 years, and has had as much experience as anyone, and knows a good deal both of manufacturers and men.”

“He considers the weavers are decidedly worse of’ than the agricultural labourer… (they are) frugal but their means are very limited; in better times they were not so provident” John goes on to say that the “tippling day” for the weavers was when “they “felled” their cloth from the loom, and took it to the factory”.

From 1811 to 1841. The weavers in Horsley declined by 42%, and spinners declined by 33%, to provide for their families many had to work as unskilled clothworkers, retrain in a new profession, or emigrate to the new world.

Mr Tabram “considers that the weavers are 20 per cent of the population in Horsley and Nailsworth. About 12 months ago, about three or four weavers, three carpenters, and some plasterers, with other-tradespeople, emigrated to Australia.”

The last sample of evidence that I have chosen from the commissioner’s report is that of James Hubbard a “chemist and druggist at Nailsworth, has resided in the neighbourhood about six years” he remembers that when he first came to Nailsworth there were 40-50 small manufacturers “but the operations of the larger manufacturers…swept them away, and hardly a vestige of them remains” also when he first came the “weavers were not so badly off…but they have been gradually getting worse and worse, owing as well to reduction of wages as scantiness of work“

As a chemist he gives some stark insights in the condition of the weavers ” they are as wretched as human beings can well be…it is heart-rending to see some of their cottages…the health of the people has suffered so…that medical treatment is often useless” he has sent many away saying “food is their best physic”

Mr Hubbard ” considers that potatoe diet engenders worms. In Ireland, though they have potatoes, they have butter-milk and exercise, but here they eat the potatoes alone, and worms is a frequent and consequent complaint” He can recognise a weaver by his “pale and haggard look.”

He goes on to say “All the diseases consequent on poverty are found here in full vigour, and the constitution is so prostrated, that, if an endemic appears the‘ people fall under it owing to their extreme debility.”

Due to the impoverished state of the tradesmen, last winter he only made about “three sales a week”, some much trade has decreased and many “contemplate emigration…where a person used to buy two or three penny-worth of an article, they now buy only a halfpennyworth”

Urbanization in the early 19th century transformed Nailsworth from an understated village into a manufacturing hub, Horsley was able to retain its rural appearance while being deeply industrial.

In the 10 years from 1831, 636 people left, the population change in Horsley was uniquely bound to the volatility of the trade cycle when compared to population changes in neighbouring villages. Without opportunities or available safety nets, there was no alternative but to seek new places.

Reflecting On The Audit

(2.3) Collecting and presenting the information for this genius loci audit has revealed to me the interconnectedness of the four kingdoms of nature and the importance of observing before adding anything or making any changes to the environment.

I began this genius loci audit three weeks ago, during that time my overall understanding of the area has distilled down into one of overarching instability. It is clear that there is a history of land instability in Horsley, due to a deeply weathered bedrock, faulting, and the combination of impermeable clay layers among permeable Jurassic limestones that are weakened by the movement of water. The geological foundation of Horsley is unstable, it gives the valley its character, but it makes the area prone to landslides, and structural issues.

Additionally, instability is reflected in the rise and fall of the woollen industry in Horsley or by the desertion of the village in 1381 because of the black death that killed most of the residents. The wool trade built this village but it was unable to respectably compete with the mechanization of the wool industry, and so declined sharply during the 1830s, Horsley fell into a depression that affected the whole of society. The fate of Horsley was directly linked to the fluctuations within the trade cycle.

The geological and cultural instability that seems to be evident, forced generations of people to adapt. There are countless retaining walls across Horsley, that have been built to prevent landslides, and rivers and springs were directed to bring power to the mills. With the raising of sheep and the exporting of raw wool, I believe that Horsley entered into its renaissance period, (although I may be bringing in my own bias) the demand for Cotswold wool, gave the area an incentive to farm sheep, and brought wealth, and stability.

Life in Horsley would have changed dramatically in the 14th century when the demand for raw wool grew exponentially. The woollen mills that were built in the 17th century turned the shepherds and shearers, into weavers that were once a highly skilled trade that would support a whole family comfortably in a cottage. A defining moment in Horsley’s history was when the woollen industry could no longer support a large population.

The commissioner concludes the report as thus “it is evident. that the distressed condition of the out-door weavers is in a great measure attributable to the fact of a surplus number of hands, who are glad to receive work at any price and on any conditions, rather than leave their precarious trade, or seek for other labour, whereby they drag their fellow-workmen to their own level by constantly underselling them in wages”.

It is apparent that sheep and wool crafts are the principal genius loci for Ruskin Mill College. During my research, I became inundated with information about Horsley’s connection to the wool industry, its impact and significance cannot be understated.

Presentation Slides

(1.4, 2.1, 2.4)

References

i. Gloucestershire Geology Trust –  Cotswold Geology – Online Article – Read Here

ii. British Geographical Survey – Geology of Britain Viewer Map – Online Map – View Here

iii. Earthwise British Geological Survey – Great Oolite Group, Middle Jurassic, Tormarton—Nailsworth, Bath—Cotswolds Province – Online Article – Read Here

iv. Britannica – Fulling – Online Article – Read Here

v. Fairy Flax – The Wildlife Trusts – Online Article – Read Here

vi. Magic Map – Natural England – Online Environmental Map – View Here

vii. Silver-washed Fritillary – Butterfly Conservation – Online Article – Read Here

viii. Herb-Paris – The Wildlife Trusts – Online Article – Read Here

ix. A History of the Country of Gloucester: Volume 11 – 1976 -Bisley and Longtree Hundreds – Originally published by Victoria County History – Pages 207-214 – Nailsworth

x. A History of the Country of Gloucester: Volume 11 – 1976 -Bisley and Longtree Hundreds – Originally published by Victoria County History – Pages 175-184 – Horsley

xi. Francesco Ammannati – L’Arte Della Lana A Firenze Nel Cinquecento – ISSN 2704-5919 (ONLINE) – Firenze University Press

xii. John H Munro – 2012 – The Rise, Expansion, and Decline of the
Italian Wool-Based Cloth Industries,
1100–1730 – University Of Toronto

xiii. The Famous Stroud Scarlet – Katie Morgan – 2019 – Online Article – Read Here

xiv. Royal Commission Of Inquiry Into The Condition Of The Hand-Loom Weavers In England And Wales (1837-41) – W A Miles – Gloucestershire Section – Online PDF – Read Here

xv. Religion And Society In A Cotswold Vale, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire (1780-1865) – 1990 – Albion M Urdank – University Of California Press – UC Press E-Books Collection – Read Here

xvi. Horsley Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2040 – Stroud District Council – Read Here