WOOL DAYS

House, Gardens & Farm are Open as usual on these days but in addition we have Sheep Shearing and activities associated with working with wool.

Sheep Shearing

June is the season when sheep are shorn in East Anglia and the Kentwell Norfolk Horn sheep are no exception.  We shear in public so you can see how it is done.  You can even buy a newly shorn fleece, if you wish.   

Wool

Once the economy of England, certainly this part of England was dependent upon wool.  England exported wool to Europe and provided much of Europe's demand at a time when clothes for most were made of wool.  Later in the 15th & 16th C the export was more of worked cloth than just wool but it was just as important to the economy.

Nowadays people prefer modern man made fibres because they are cheaper.  Yet wool is warmer in winter and cooler in summer and breathes so that it is pleasant to wear.  Alas quality and value loses out these days to cost.  It costs us more to shear a sheep than the fleece is worth if we sell it to the Wool Marketing Board - an oxymoron if ever there was one.  We now have our wool spun and it is highly prized by those who enjoy knitting.  Visitors can buy Kentwell's Norfolk Horn's spun wool from the Shop.

Every part of the sheep was used in the economy of the Middle Ages not just the wool.  The meat, of course, also the skin for parchment, the horn even the guts for many uses.  Few of these uses survive modern alternatives.  We even prefer to eat (cheap & tasteless) lamb rather than matured (and tasty) mutton.

Working with Wool

In addition we show a number of activities concerned with working with wool: spinning & weaving (children can try their hand at carding) felting & dyeing.

Other Tudor Activities

Our main Re-Creation of everyday Tudor Life starts on Sunday 20th June and we expect a number of our Tudors to be here preparing their areas for it.  You may bump into a Tudor almost anywhere with the Needlewomen here in force in the Moat House on Sunday to plan their latest hanging.

The Gardens

Late spring is one of the best times to see the Kentwell Gardens.  Evereywhere is lovely then.  Late spring flowers (cowslips etc) abound and there are flowers a'plenty in the Walled Garden with the Herb garden and Potager there being to make a good show. The peonies in the Sunken Garden may still be in flower and you may be lucky enough to see an early wild pyramid orchid.