Glossary

Fulling

Fulling was the process whereby the cloth was cleaned and beaten or compressed in a solution of water and detergent. This process not only removed excess grease and oil, but thickened the fibres, to some extent weather-proofing the wool. From the late twelfth century water was used to power the fulling mills. Prior to this there was a more hands-on or rather, ‘feet-on’, approach, for the cloth was put in a wooden tub and trampled on, rather like crushing grapes for wine.

[Talbot, ‘Account Book of Beaulieu Abbey’, p. 200; Bond, Monastic Landscapes, pp. 320-323.]