Mortlake Tapestry Works

Mortlake Tapestry Works were established alongside the River Thames at Mortlake, then outside, but near west London in 1619 by Sir Francis Crane.

The proposal to establish a tapestry works at Mortlake came from king James I in 1619. It was to be under the management of Sir Francis Crane who undertook the recruitment of weavers and to meet the cost of building and fitting up premises. In return he was to receive a fee, the exclusive right to weave tapestries of all sorts for 21 years and they were to be free of customs duties. Since there was no effective pool of labour in England Flemish workers were brought in great secrecy mainly from Brussels and the Low Countries (Belgium) where tapestry weaving was a major industry. It was agreed that some of the masters would be naturalized on the word of Sir Francis. The craft was to be taught to suitable boys in the orphanages of the City of London. The City agreed to pay their maintenance during the seven-year apprenticeship and Sir Francis would supply the looms and the materials.

The works were first established on John Dee's estate in Mortlake, later the site of the Queen's Head pub.

Knighted in 1617 Crane later became Secretary to Charles I when he was Prince of Wales. However, it was the arrival of an able designer, Francis Clein, German born and previously in the service of the king of Denmark, together with the patronage of Charles both when Prince of Wales and later as king which gave the works a good start. Although Crane became very wealthy when he died in 1637 his brother Captain Richard Crane found himself unable to pay the weavers and eventually sold the project to the Crown. It continued to function for the rest of the century though its fortunes fluctuated.

In 1629, Charles I granted Crane ca.400 acres of Stoke Park at Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire, England, together with a manor house.

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