Bleachfield

Bleekveld in een dorp (Bleachfield in a village), circa 1650 (Jan Brueghel the Younger)

A bleachfield or croft was an open area of land (usually a field) used for spreading cloth and fabrics on the ground to be bleached by the action of the sun and water. They were usually found in and around mill towns in Great Britain and were an integral part of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.

In the 18th century there were many linen bleachfields in Scotland, particularly in Perthshire, Renfrewshire in the Scottish Lowlands, and the outskirts of Glasgow. One of the stained glass windows made by Stephen Adam for the Maryhill Burgh Halls in 1878, shows linen bleachers at work. By the 1760s, linen manufacture became a major industry in Scotland, second only to agriculture. For instance, in 1782 alone, Perthshire produced 1.7 million yards of linen, worth £81,000 (£12,577,000 as of 2024).

Bleachfields were also common in northern England; for instance, the name of the town of Whitefield is thought to derive from the medieval bleachfields used by Flemish settlers.

Bleachfields became redundant shortly after the discovery of chlorine in the late 18th century: however, many of the factories bleaching with chlorine continued to be called bleachfields.

A bleachfield is similar to, but should not be confused with a tenterground.

See also

• Croft (land)
• Fulling
• Charles Tennant
• Timeline of clothing and textiles technology

References

Bibliography

• Waterston, Charles D. (2008), Perth Entrepreneurs: the Sandemans of Springfield, ISBN 978-0-905452-52-4
• Wilson, John F (1979), A History of Whitefield, John F Wilson, ISBN 0-9506795-1-8