(This page is best viewed printed on paper).

The Preparation of Woad

An excerpt from the Society's Transactions

The paper entitled "The Preparation of Woad in England" by H O Clark and Rex Wailes is published in Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 1935-36 Vol 16.

Woad was used as a blue dye from druid times, but after the sea route from India to Europe was opened, natural indigo began to take its place and continued to do so until the time that synthetic indigo was produced (circa 1900). However, woad continued to be used as a mordant in connection with the finest indigo dyeing. Woaded cloth was used by governments to prevent uniforms from fading, right up until the 1930s. We have chosen this paper from Transactions partly because of the renewed interest in woad as an alternative to modern indigo (with its environmental problems); also because the processing of woad is interesting in itself and this paper provide some fascinating insight into the industry, as these short excerpts show.

Plan of a woad mill © copyright

The woad mill was usually a demountable affair: it had to be located close to the fields, and as the woad crop had to be rotated and moved to new fields when the ground was exhausted, the buildings had to follow it. Once harvested, the processes involved grinding, balling, couching, drying and packing.

"(Couching) was the most difficult operation in the preparation of woad. The balls of woad were first broken up, usually by the rollers in the roller house; the woad was then taken to the couching house or couching barn close by, and spread on the floor to a depth of about 3ft. It was then watered sufficiently to enable the juice just to be squeezed out, and allowed to ferment. While the fermentation was proceeding, the temperature had to be controlled carefully, and not allowed to exceed about 125 degrees Fahr. If it became too hot the woad became 'foxy' or over-porous, if not hot enough it was 'heavy' and would stain the hands, which properly couched woad would not do. If it fermented unevenly it would not 'beaver' well, and fetched a lower price; while good woad would break up into fine filaments when rubbed between the finger and thumb, and looked like currants with little white specks in them. Men, often stripped to the waist, turned the woad with forks and shovels from one end of the couching house to the other; checking the temperature by smell, which has been described as like an unclean stable, plus a cesspool and sickly sweet silage."

The last movable woad mill in the Fens, prior to dismantling in 1916 © copyright

The authors provide some interesting extracts from contemporary papers, photographs, and accounts, which they came across shortly after the closure of the last working woad mill in East Anglia in 1937.

Woad workers in the mill at Parsons Drove © copyright

"In 1844 there were 16 families living there (Parson's Drove). Some of the names of the work people are curious. Women were largely employed, mostly wives of the labourers. There are many biblical names:- Naomi, Ruth etc. also Lueza. Among the men's surnames we find:- Weatherhog, Gout, Basto, Allbones, Craft, Twilley, Straps, Bucktrout, Pybine, Quince, Coo etc. From the wages book the woad season is clearly defined. On April 1st all hands were at work preparing land and sowing. At the end of June cropping commenced and continued till the end of November and even ran into December. Usually on the first pay day in December the piece work bonuses for woad work were paid; £6/8/- very often. Thereafter, excluding a small amount of labour for couching and packing, the wadmen turned their attention to the digging, washing, drying and grinding of chicory (also used for dyeing) and general farm work."

A tantalising example of the difficulty of finding technical information about old processes was quoted in the discussion that followed the presentation of this paper:

"To describe the mill and dryinge house I think is superfluous, because they are commonlie knowne in most places of this lande. But if God grant me life till Michaellmas term you shall see the modell of a mill at the signe of the Spurr in Sowthwarke..." (1586 MS entitled 'Manor of Making Woad', the British Museum).

Biographical Note: Rex Wailes OBE FSA was President of the Newcomen Society 1953-55, and produced over 40 papers for the Society's Transactions. An engineer, he became an international authority on windmills, and was adviser to SPAB and founder member of the International Molinological Society. He was author of "Windmills in England" 1948 and "The English Windmill" 1954.

The complete text of this paper can be purchased on line from our archive.

Transactions page

Back to the top