Shrewsbury in 1334 was the 7th wealthiest town in England outside of London, and was well situated to handle trade from north and central Wales in time of peace.

The first step was taken by an independent draper in 1444, when Digory Watur, founded almshouses in front of the west tower of St Mary's Church, that housed 13 residents.

(This needs to be checked)[2] However, it was not all without problems: as an example, in 1470 the weavers of Shrewsbury obtained an order by the town authorities that banned the drapers from bringing in Welsh cloth.

[3] The independent Mercers' Company, formed in 1425, had become the richest and strongest trade organisation in Shrewsbury in the 15th century,[4] although that was about to change.

In the early 16th century Welsh cloth for export was mainly produced in south Wales and shipped from the local ports.

In the early 16th century the Drapers shut the Mercers out of the trade and make the Shearmen purely subcontractors, creating an effective monopoly.

The first draft said that all merchants were to be allowed to buy cloth anywhere in Wales and to export it subject to paying duties to the crown.

John Davies noted in 1633 that "Oswestry flourished and was happy indeed by reason of the market of Welsh cottons, £1,000 in ready money was left in the town each week: sometimes far more.

[17] The Welsh cloth makers, who lacked capital, produced poor quality drapery for which there was relatively low demand.

[19] Other plains were finished as high friezes, with the upper fibres on one side raised into a rough, curly nap, suitable for cold weather outer clothing.

[1] Shrewsbury had a large body of craftsmen to finish the cloth, so plains that were bought on Monday could be cottoned and on the way to London by Wednesday.

[24] During the 18th century the turnpike system improved the roads and Welsh businessmen began to control production, causing a decline in the importance of the company.

[26] An author wrote of Shrewsbury in the 1790s, From very early days this place possessed almost exclusively the trade with Wales in a coarse kind of woollen cloth called Welsh webbs, which were brought from Merioneth and Montgomeryshire to a market held here weekly on Thursdays.

At present the greatest part of this traffick is diverted into other channels, and not more than four or five hundred thousand yards are brought to the ancient mart.

Flannels both coarse and fine are purchased at Welsh-Pool, on every other Monday, by the drapers of Shrewsbury, who now principally enjoy this branch of commerce.

[27] From around 1790 individuals other the Shrewsbury drapers began to go direct to the cloth makers to buy their products, taking advantage of the improved roads.

By the end of the century the market in Shrewsbury had almost ceased, and in March 1803 the Company gave up the great room in which the trading had been conducted.

After undergoing the operation of scouring, bleaching, and milling, it is packed up in large bales, and sent to Shrewsbury, Liverpool, and London; and thence exported to Germany, Russia and America.

[29] An 1824 gazetteer noted that domestic production of cloth by small farmers had greatly declined due to the introduction of spinning mills.

[30] As the Industrial Revolution developed in the 19th century the trade guilds became irrelevant, and their regulatory powers were removed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.