Honiton Lace

Illustration: Honiton lace sprig design.

The hand lace making industry of East Devon was traditionally said to have started with the influx of Flemish refugees in the sixteenth century, although certain forms of embroidery and cut work in particular which is often seen as the forerunner to the lace craft, were produced before this time. Although analogies with earlier designs produced in East Devon do correspond to lace work produced in Belgium, it is difficult to be fully accurate. The nature of the lace industry was one of often borrowing and adapting patterns from different areas and incorporating them into native or domestic styles, which makes it difficult to pinpoint indigenous styles and geographically localised areas of production.

Illustration: Honiton lace poppy and bryony design. 

One thing that is certain is that East Devon produced fine lace work that was created in numerous villages in the East Devon area for a number of generations. The reason that it is often given the general title of Honiton, rather than the specific village of production, is the fact that Honiton being the main town in the area was where the finished lace was brought together for shipment via stagecoach and then later by train to London in particular.

There is a definite style to Honiton lace, which commonly used floral work that was often motif based and could consist of relatively large gestures. The flower motif would be worked separately and then integrated into a piece of lace work via the background netting. Motifs were often strung together through the netting background and could therefore be used, depending on the scale, for anything from the edging of a tablecloth to that of a small handkerchief. This intriguing design work may appear more robust perhaps than some of the finer examples from different areas of Europe; however, the work does tie in with the ongoing English use of a relatively unstylised form of nature, which was so much a part of the general pattern style of the culture.

Illustration: Honiton lace open fibre.

Some of the work produced during the early to mid-nineteenth century copied some of the floral wallpapers that were so popular at the time. This could help to explain some of the larger examples of floral motifs, although by all accounts many were less than successful as judged by critics and the lace makers themselves. There is a certain similarity with English embroidery work, particularly of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. This may well be either a coincidence or perhaps an example of designers from different genres tapping into the same font of initial inspiration, the vocabulary of English design work perhaps.

Either way Honiton lace despite its inevitable European links was altogether a domestically inspired craft that produced work that was both admired and copied outside of the geographical area of East Devon. So much so that to some extent at least Honiton is sometimes referred to as a style rather than a geographical moniker. Making the scene even more complex is the fact that Honiton lace makers, like so many others in Europe, also produced work in other European styles, as the fashion demanded, so that lace work could appear as both the fashionable lace style of the day and yet still be classed as Honiton.

Illustration: Honiton lace poppy and bryony design.

Honiton lace, like so many other hand lace producing areas of Europe, is no longer a viable industry. The twentieth century was particularly unkind to the craft, when fashion, for both costume and interior, minimalised its use of external fringes and borders. Because the industry was literally at the mercy of the dictates of fashion it found it near impossible to either diversify or adapt. The Royal family have felt compelled through most of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, to commission lace work, be it on a fairly small scale, from the various traditional lace centres of Britain and Ireland. Queen Victoria was a fairly substantial commissioner of lace work, and Honiton lace was incorporated into the wedding dress of Princess Diana.

Honiton still sells locally produced lace today, although mostly of an antique nature, and honitonlace.com is a good place to either buy or explore this uniquely English lace craft, as well as find tools to experience the craft yourself.

Illustration: Honiton lace spray illustrating Flemish and fibre stitch.

Reference links:
The Dictionary of Needlework
Identification of Lace (Shire Library)
Honiton Lace Patterns
The Honiton Lace Book
1862 HONITON LACE FLOUNCE DEBENHAM EXHBITION LONDON
Introduction to Honiton Lace
Royal Honiton Lace
New Patterns in Honiton Lace
The Technique of Honiton Lace
**REPRINT** Cole, Alan S. (Alan Summerly), 1846-1934. Honiton lace industry copy of report of Mr. Alan Cole, Commissioner from the South Kensington Museum, on the present condition and prospects of the Honiton lace industry. Ordered by the House of Commons to be**REPRINT**
The History of the Honiton Lace Industry (South-West Studies)
Birds and Animals in Honiton Lace
Three Generations in the Honiton Lace Trade: A Family History
Flowers in Honiton Lace
Antique Point and Honiton Lace
Further Steps in Honiton Lace
Honiton lace: Basic technical instruction book
Honiton Fillings: A Collection from 18c. Honiton Lace
A Honiton Lace Maker: The Pat Perryman Story

The Revival of Honiton Lace

Illustration: Honiton lace design, 1910.

The town of Honiton in Devon produced some of the most sought after lace in England. It was said that the town had been producing lace since the Elizabethan era, although it is now thought that serious production of lace did not begin for another century after that.

Although lace making in Honiton and the surrounding area was given a boost when lace makers were commissioned to supply lace for Queen Victoria's wedding dress in 1841, the actual production of lace was in a slow, but general decline. Through competition from other, perhaps more prestigious lace making areas of Europe and through the incursions of industrial lace production, the Honiton lace craft was seriously challenged in both price and speed of delivery.

Although Honiton has given its name to a particular form of lace decorative work, it is largely because as a market town Honiton sold the lace rather than produced it. Much of the actual craftwork was produced in the many towns and villages in the surrounding area, such as Axminster, Beer and Branscombe. In fact, the actual lace for Queen Victoria's wedding dress came from Beer, not Honiton.

 Illustration: Honiton lace design, 1910.

Perhaps a more serious long-term problem that dogged much of the lace craft industry, not only that of Honiton, was the poor overall design content of much of the work that was often derived from wallpaper designs and poor copies of European work.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, many local women chose not to follow the traditional route into the craft of lace production, finding more lucrative, less labour intensive and better-paid options elsewhere. The small industry was obviously struggling to survive, but with the help of the county council and a number of dedicated individuals, the industry did make some progress. Through the organisation of pattern work, dropping sub-standard designs and introducing some contemporary work, the standard look of the craft was raised. Classes were also set up throughout the region, where older experienced women were persuaded to teach the younger generation the skills of the craft.

Illustration: Honiton lace design, 1910.

While the overall umbrella of the British Arts & Crafts movement did indeed help to revive a whole range of British hand craft skills, lace making did not prove to be as successful as some of the other revived crafts. Hand lace making, by its very nature, tended to be linked with that of the fashion industry, so while hand made lace was incorporated into fashionable costumes, it thrived, when it was excluded, even briefly, the industry suffered. Perhaps more importantly, lace production was always seen as one of the most labour intensive of the textile crafts and was always notoriously badly paid.

While the revival of Honiton lace during the first few years of the twentieth century was sorely needed and was widely welcomed, it was a temporary measure with little substance and no chance of longevity.

Industrial lace making now dominates the market, even though hand lace making survives as both a tourist and amateur interest. The industrial process has undoubtedly weakened and cheapened the craft so that mass produced lace now takes the form of the production of nylon net curtains that have only a vague and passing resemblance to the long and diverse traditions of the craft of lace making.

Further reading links:
Honiton town website
The Honiton Lace Shop
The Honiton Lace Book: Being the Second and Enlarged Edition of Honiton Lace-Making, and Containing Full and Practical Instructions for Acquiring the Art ... This Beautiful and Fashionable Lace (1875 )
New Patterns in Honiton Lace
Introduction to Honiton Lace
The Technique of Honiton Lace
History Of Honiton Lace Industry (South-West Studies)
Honiton Lace Patterns
New Designs in Honiton Lace
Honiton Lace: A Visual Approach
Honiton lace
Honiton Lace Maker
The Book of Honiton: Of Lace and Pottery Fame (Halsgrove Community History)
Identification of Lace (Shire Library)
Take the Children...: The Life of the Lace Girls, Working in the Honiton and East Midlands Districts, from Evidence Given to John Edward White M.A. for the 1862 Royal Commision
The romance of the wool, lace and pottery trades in Honiton
Weldon's 2D #153 c.1897 - Practical Honiton Lace - Pillow Lace (Weldon's Practical Needlework)
Flowers in Honiton Lace
Birds and Animals in Honiton Lace
Further Steps in Honiton Lace
Three Generations in the Honiton Lace Trade: A Family History