Cloth-making was, apart from iron-making, the other large-scale industry carried out on the Weald of Kent and Sussex in medieval times.
The ready availability of wool from the sheep of the Romney Marsh, and the immigration from Flanders in the fourteenth century of cloth-workers – places like Cranbrook attracted hundreds of such skilled workers – ensured its place in Kentish industrial history.
It was helped by the fact that Fuller's earth deposits existed between Boxley and Maidstone: it being an essential raw material for de-greasing the wool.
Once the wool had been carded (to get rid of the tangles) and spun (both these processes could be done in the workpeople's own homes), it then required weaving.
Regulations ensured the size and quality of the cloth offered for sale.