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A tenterground, tenter ground or teneter-field was an area used for drying newly manufactured cloth after fulling. The wet cloth was hooked onto frames called " tenters" and stretched taut using " tenter hooks", so that the cloth would dry flat and square.
It is from this process that some have the expression " on tenterhooks", meaning in a state of nervous tension.
There were tentergrounds wherever cloth was made, and as a result the word "tenter" is found in place names throughout the United Kingdom and its empire, for example several streets in
''The London magazine; or, Gentleman's monthly intelligencer, Volume 25'', London, 1756, p.564
/ref>), and also covering large areas of
A tenterground, tenter ground or teneter-field was an area used for drying newly manufactured cloth after fulling. The wet cloth was hooked onto frames called " tenters" and stretched taut using " tenter hooks", so that the cloth would dry flat and square.
It is from this process that some have the expression " on tenterhooks", meaning in a state of nervous tension.
There were tentergrounds wherever cloth was made, and as a result the word "tenter" is found in place names throughout the United Kingdom and its empire, for example several streets in Spitalfields
Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...
, London and Tenterfield House in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, which in turn gave its name to Tenterfield in New South Wales, Australia.
London
The Spitalfields Tenterground was established in the 17th century by Flemish weavers, who were Huguenotrefugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.
s fleeing religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
. Their weaving industry led to the area becoming a centre of the garment industry (the rag trade as it became known colloquially), with names such as Fashion Street
Fashion Street refers to a cluster of over 385 street side clothing shops on MG Road near Azad Maidan and is opposite to Bombay Gymkhana, in South Mumbai, India.
The market is located just opposite VSNL
Tata Communications Limited (prev ...
and Petticoat Lane still extant.
It was originally an area of open ground about 150 yards square, surrounded by the weavers' houses and workshops in White's Row, Wentworth Street, Bell Lane and Rose Lane (the last of which no longer exists).
By the 19th century, the Flemish weavers had dispersed, and in 1829 the Tenterground was developed for housing. From about 1850, it was populated by Dutch Jews (see Chuts
Chuts is the name applied to Jews who immigrated to London from the Netherlands during the latter part of the 19th century. They typically came from Amsterdam and practised trades they had already learned there, most notably cigar-, cap- and sl ...
), to be joined later by Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in eastern Europe (see pogrom).
During the early part of the 20th century, the Tenterground was largely demolished for redevelopment, but some old buildings remain in and around the area, including Flemish weavers' houses and an early Dutch synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
which was formerly a Huguenot chapel. Another former Huguenot chapel is now a mosque.
Rocque's 1746 map shows further tenter grounds between Bishopsgate and Moorfields, adjoining "Mr Witanoom's Vinegar Yard" (''i.e.'' Cornelius
Wittenoom/ref>), and also covering large areas of
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
. Lower Moor Fields, east of Finsbury
Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London.
The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...
, connected to Long Alley northwards, was a cloth washing area with cloth pegged to the ground to be stretched and dried.
References
{{reflist Dutch-Jewish culture in the United Kingdom History of clothing Textiles Industrial history of London