Dutch Gloves
Dr Annemarieke Willemsen FSA Curator Mediaeval Dept,
National Museum of Antiquities Leiden (NL)
In April 2015 I received an email from Annemarieke asking for my help. She explained that she was researching glove-making for a book that she was writing.
She attached a copy of “The Ciba Review” published in Basle in October 1947. It was in English and contained four articles on gloves. She had obtained this in the course of her research.
There was a photo in this publication of the memorial stone of Peter Denot. He was a glove maker and his memorial is in Fletching Church. The photo had been taken by Edward Reeves, photographer, of Lewes. The business is still there to this day.
Annemarieke asked me if the memorial was still there, which of course it is. I took some photos of it and forwarded them to her. She was very appreciative of my help and in May when the book was published, she very kindly sent me a signed copy.
The book contains the photos that I took and which are credited with my name. Unfortunately it is all in Dutch! Luckily I have a Belgian friend who speaks Dutch and has very kindly translated the page that contains the reference to Fletching church.
From the Church Guide book:
In the South Trancept is a brass to Peter Denot, mounted upon a stone slab. The brass, quite unique of its kind, indicates his vocation as a glover and maybe dated about 1450. He, with other Fletching men, took part in Jack Cade's Rebellion and were subsequently pardoned. There are deeds which show he was active in land transactions up to at least seven years later than the rebellion.
Specialisation & Organisation
Woollen gloves and mittens could be knitted at home, and gauntlets were made by harness makers as part of a suit of armour. However, for the manufacture of gloves, certain skills were required, such as cutting accurately around a template in a certain size in one go, fine and decorative stitching and the dressing of very fine leather. Certain leather workers became specialized in these skills. In the 8th century the monks of Sithin not only manufactured gloves, but also other articles such as book covers from thin deerskin. The profession of glove maker became generally known as ‘Glover’. ‘Gaunter’, or ‘Le Gauntier’. A pair of gloves then becomes the ‘signboard’ of the trade, as can be seen on the bronze inlaid tombstone of Peter Denot, Glover from 1479, in the church of St.Andrew and St.Mary in Fletching (East Sussex), where next to the bronze inscription there is also a pair of bronze inlaid gloves (pct 37). The profession of glove maker is regularly mentioned in lists of the 16th and 17th century, for example in 1646 the St.Jans Guild in Mechelen (Belgium) mentions a certain ‘Joos Van Ophem, glove maker’. Also, William Shakespeare’s father was a glove maker.
The professional bodies in the Middle Ages were the Guilds. In many towns where the guild lists have been preserved, it appears that the glove makers shared a guild with other leather workers.
These guilds often choose St. Bartholomew as their patron saint, because according to his vita he was skinned alive. These guilds were often divided into skin processors, leather cutters and manufacturers of leather goods. Once more specialised guilds arose, we often find glove makers combined with manufacturers of other leather goods such as handbags. These guild members had specialised in working with a certain type of fine leather, prepared with alum, also called ‘white leather’. Because they worked with this ‘white leather’, in Ghent they belonged to the ‘witledertauwere’, or white leather workers, recognisable (in the print with the guild shields from 1524, by a badge with a white stag surrounded by three typical products, a purse, a glove and a saddle. Certain sources refer to these artisans as ‘witmaekers’ (white makers), ‘witgherwers’ (white workers) or ‘alutarii’. This type of leather is not properly tanned though and from an archeological point of view actually never preserves well.
Article provided by Sonia Harryiott
Researching Fletching Graves
fletchinggraves.org
I have been asked to draw your attention to the existence of this website, on which are recorded details of the headstones in Fletching Churchyard. It was developed by my son Simon, who is a computer programmer, enabling me to record and update the findings of my research.
There have been enquiries from around the UK and from as far away as Australia and Canada.
Researching family history is popular now and this resource is very useful. Over 700 graves with their inscriptions are recorded.
My involvement came about in the 1980s, when the late Denis Kenward was Churchwarden here at Fletching, and also Chairman of Fletching Parish Council. Denis came from a long line of Piltdown farmers from Moons Farm and surrounds. Several of his ancestors are buried in the churchyard. He had noticed that many of the inscriptions on the stones were becoming illegible. There is no legal requirement to record inscriptions, but he thought it would be a worthwhile undertaking. Because of my interest in social history I volunteered to help, and so started years of work.
We would meet when the weather was fine and we could be seen crawling around on our hands and knees, starting at the oldest part, around the church. We devised means of deciphering the inscriptions: lolly sticks (available from Bernard Trew at the village shop), which were soft wood when we had eaten the lolly and ideal for carefully removing lichen! Spraying with water and shining a torch on the lettering also worked sometimes. Some inscriptions are incised and some are lead overlay, which are easier to read if complete. Using notebooks we recorded names, dates of birth and death and any other information. All was recorded as a facsimile, complete with the shape of the stone.
Sadly Denis died in 2007 - he is buried in the churchyard - and we weren't able to finish the project before he died. I eventually resumed the task on my own and have continued to this day.
There are 5 Commonwealth Commission graves, and Daniel Hattrell is buried there who fought at Waterloo. He survived, returned to Fletching and died at the age of 81.
Among many other interesting graves are those of Jimmy Edwards, the comedian, and his brother Alan who farmed Atheralls.
Sonia Harriyott