Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company is one of the oldest working commercial mills in England. Gainsborough was established as a Jacquard weaving mill by Reginald Warner in 1903 and has been at its present location in Sudbury, Suffolk since 1924. The mill represents a confluence of the past and future of the British weaving industry.
Gainsborough could be described as a working museum with 15 working Hattersley looms, which are in some cases up to 100 years old, making up the majority of the factory machinery. Despite their age, these looms still produce the beautiful cloth for which Gainsborough is best known.
With many of the original punch card sets still intact, these designs date back to when the mill was first established and the quality of cloth produced remains insurmountable.
Gainsborough has helped furnish some of the most influential and important buildings around the world, from Tokyo to Moscow, and Washington D.C. to Kuala Lumpur. Awarded the Royal Warrant in 1980, Gainsborough has produced many fabrics for the Royal Family and state buildings, which include amongst others; Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, St. James’s Palace, Winsor Castle, The Houses of Parliament and the vestments at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
With both old and modern looms, adopting traditional and current technology, Gainsborough are able to cater for a huge range of clients. Everything from the dyeing of yarns to the woven fabric is done in-house, and despite what the name suggests, Gainsborough is not limited to silk weaving. They have wool, cotton, linen, viscose and silk yarns in stock and are willing and able to weave any yarn that the rapiers will take.
