From frames to factories
Framework knitting was a family trade carried out at home, often in poor conditions. Leicester had several hundred frames in the early 1700s and around 3,000 by 1790. Factory production took over in the second half of the 1800s.
Corah and St Margaret’s Works
Nathaniel Corah, born in 1777, built a business buying and selling hosiery and moved towards the factory system in the 1820s. N. Corah & Sons laid the foundation stone of St Margaret’s Works in 1865, near St Margaret’s Church. It became one of the largest hosiery factories in Britain, supplied Marks & Spencer from 1926, and employed thousands of people at its peak around the late 1960s.
Wolsey
Wolsey’s roots go back to a Leicester hosier trading in the 1740s and 1750s. The firm moved to a steam-powered factory in 1859 and took the name Wolsey in 1897, after Cardinal Wolsey, who is buried in Leicester Abbey. The old Abbey Lane building still carries the Cardinal’s face.
Leicester textiles today
Leicester still has knitters, garment makers, dyers and trimming suppliers. Events such as Leicester Made & Regions, held at De Montfort University in April 2026, bring manufacturers and brands together. Machinery specialists such as PK Sewing Machines keep the city’s production lines and home sewing rooms running. Read more in our UK hosiery reading list.
See it for yourself
The Wigston Framework Knitters Museum, just south of Leicester, preserves a master hosier’s house and frame shop. The Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, has working frames. The Knitting Together project and the University of Leicester’s East Midlands Oral History Archive collect the stories of the people who worked in the trade.
Leicester’s sheep, too
The county shaped British wool as well as knitting. Robert Bakewell of Dishley, near Loughborough, developed the Leicester Longwool sheep in the 18th century, and the Bluefaced Leicester remains a prized wool breed. See Leicester sheep and British wool.
Last updated: 14 October 2026
