Around 1500 teazle farming for use in the weaving of cloth became a major local industry.
The seeds are an important winter food resource for some birds, notably the European Goldfinch.
It is then brushed with a fuller's teasel and the nap is clipped, a process which is repeated a number of times until the fabric provides good warmth for the weight, and is relatively supple, windproof and extremely durable.
All feature Philippa Threlfall's 1972 mural "Buildings of Stroud" and a Fuller's teasel (Dipsacus sativus) on the front, and various images of local significance (including local celebrities, landscapes, flora and fauna) on the back.
Once dry, the cloth was brushed with teasels to get rid of loose threads; and finally the shearman cut off loose and projecting pieces of wool.
The original craft of the Clothworkers was the finishing of woven woollen cloth: fulling it to mat the fibres and remove the grease, drying it on tenter frames (from which derives the expression ‘to be on tenterhooks’), raising the nap with teasels (Dipsacus) and shearing it to a uniform finish.
Dipsacus |