Scotch carpets at Stirling: Thomas Gilfillan's Cash Book and Ledger 1764 - 1770

Abstract

Scotch carpets were a popular form of domestic furnishing for close to 200 years. The name suggests that this kind of pile-less, reversible, woollen double cloth, used as a floor covering, was widely sold outside Scotland. It was also known as Ingrain carpet and made at Kidderminster and several places in the north of England and in Ireland, from the 18th century onwards. Thomas Gilfillan's business books provide rare and early documentary evidence of a working carpet manufactory and raise questions about whether this style of carpet was part of a wider tradition centred in the wool-manufacturing areas of England or an example of a more local tradition.