Our Story
Founded in 1783
Our heritage is steeped in centuries of tradition, craftsmanship, and innovation.
A legacy built on excellence
We continue to honour our heritage while embracing modern advancements, ensuring that every piece of fabric we produce reflects our rich history and unwavering commitment to quality.
We proudly share our story, dating back to the 18th century, which shows how we developed and branched out into the many different industries we are in today. Three things have remained constant throughout – we have always been owned by the Hainsworth family, we have always been based in West Yorkshire, and we have always made woollen cloth of exceptional quality.
Hainsworth through the years
Established in 1783, our heritage is a testament to enduring craftsmanship and innovation. Explore our heritage and experience the tradition of excellence that defines AW Hainsworth.
Looking back through our history
240 years
Our team away day
2023
240th Birthday
We celebrate our 240th birthday, marking our long history with a team away day.
Our new colour testing room
The laboratory space
New testing equipment
2022
A state-of-the-art testing laboratory
We invest in the future of textile innovation – a quarter of a million-pound state-of-the-art new laboratory space.
The UKAS-accredited space includes a range of new testing instruments and advanced machinery supplied by leading manufacturers.
Replin fabric
Replin by Hainsworth
A first class aircraft seat
2015
Hainsworth purchase Replin Fabrics
Hainsworth purchase Replin Fabrics, one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of transport fabrics. Manufacturing moved from Peebles to the Hainsworth mill in Stanningley.
Guaranteed fibre content
The Woolmark
Pure Merino Wool
2014
Hainsworth become a member of the Woolmark
Hainsworth becomes a member of the Woolmark and gain the ability to use the mark on our products.
“The iconic Woolmark logo represents an unwavering commitment to quality, ensuring outstanding performance and guaranteed fibre content in every certified product.”
Our connection to the Princess
Another Royal Wedding
2011
Prince William wears Hainsworth cloth for Royal Wedding
For the Royal Wedding, Princes William and Harry wear Hainsworth cloth. This was an event with double meaning for Hainsworth, along with the connection to Kate Middleton through her Great Grandparents and William Lupton & Co.
Woven from wool
Soft and comforting
A natural legacy
2009
Hainsworth develop woollen coffins
Hainsworth develop Natural Legacy woollen coffins. At the launch of Campaign for Wool at the Wimpole Estate, Prince Charles famously dubbed the product “A coffin to die for”.
The Royal Warrant on our wall
By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen
Broadcloth, an interiors fabric
2004
Our Royal Warrant
Hainsworth receive the Royal Warrant for providing furnishing fabrics to Her Majesty the Queen.
The Company Directors at the time
Queen's Award for Enterprise
2003
Hainsworth wins Queen's Award
Hainsworth win the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation for TI-Technology™.
The Royal Guards
Charles and Diana on their wedding day
1981
Prince Charles in Hainsworth Cloth
Prince Charles (now His Majesty the King) wore Hainsworth cloth on his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, as did the Guards in their scarlet tunics lining the Mall. This was televised to a global audience of 750 million.
Snooker cloth
The Championships
Seen by 18 million people
1979
Snooker cloth on display to the world
Hainsworth provide snooker cloth for the world championships watched by 18 million people.
Using Nomex for protective cloth
A history of innovation
A partnership with Dupont
1975
The first protective Nomex® fabrics in the UK
Hainsworth had always embraced innovation and in 1975 the company took the decision to work with DuPont introducing the first protective Nomex® fabrics into the UK. This was a revolutionary step for a market used to wool, but one which was to prove very successful. This area of the business grew rapidly with the company to this day supplying fire services and military personnel around the world.
A re-organisation in 1986, including a new wool store
Hainsworth under water
1968
Disaster strikes again
The mill was hit by another disaster and suffered a major flood due to a violent storm. The beck underneath the mill overflowed, which resulted in the mill being flooded with four feet of sewage laced water.
The following two decades saw a programme of improvement works to modernise and protect the mill.
Princess of Wales mill visit
William Lupton & Co advert
1958
Hainsworth buys William Lupton & Co
AW Hainsworth buys William Lupton & Co, which was owned by the great-grand parents of the Princess of Wales, Olive Lupton and Noel Middleton.
Lupton’s made collar meltons, a specialised woollen cloth used for lining jacket collars. Lupton’s had two mills, in Leeds and Pudsey, and in 1958 these were absorbed into Hainsworth’s operations.
The mill on fire
A newspaper cutting from 1955
1955
Mill destroyed by fire
Amidst strong growth came the night of 11 December 1955, when disaster struck the mill. Arthur Moffatt, the firm’s caretaker, noticed a red glow in the low side weaving shed. He raised the alarm and ran to move his horse from the adjoining stable. Within minutes the fire had spread to the two-storey spinning block and in total it was estimated that three quarters of the entire mill had been destroyed. The life’s work of three generations, and a fourth just starting, came crashing to the ground in just three hours.
Through disaster came the opportunity to rebuild and renew, and the company decided to move away from steam to electric power. The rebuild included a new two-storey main mill, a single-storey spinning mill, and the scribbling department was re-roofed and a new raw materials shed erected.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip
Queen Elizabeth's Coronation
1953
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
1953 saw the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and Hainsworth were chosen to produce a special cloth in regimental colours to mark the occasion. It was just what the country, company and industry needed after so long at war – textiles used in celebration.
In total Hainsworth provided over 30 different fabrics, and we still have the letter of thanks from the Ministry of Supply.
RAF Blue Fabric
The Boys in Blue
1918
The 'Boys in Blue'
The ‘Boys in Blue’ are in blue thanks to Hainsworth. When the Air force separated from the Army in 1918 and approached Hainsworth for colour ideas to allow them to have their own identity, it was Hainsworth that proposed the distinctive blue cloth that they have worn ever since.
Soldiers wearing khaki serge
Khaki serge fabric
Soldiers wearing khaki serge
1899
Spring Valley Mills and Khaki Serge
Abimelech started weaving worsted fabric, and to continue expansion he bought Spring Valley next door, which forms the main part of the mill today.
The scarlet cloth for the War Office had long been an important product for Hainsworth, but at the end of the 19th century demand for bright, distinctive combat wear plummeted when the increasing use of rifles and artillery in the Boer War led to a demand for a more protective colouring for army cloth.
The company had already started working with Yorkshire College to create experimental new fabric constructions and in 1899 saw the first orders for Khaki Serge, a worsted warp woollen weft fabric.
A letterhead showing Cape Mills in the 1800s
The mill in 1882
OS Map of 1908
1882
The purchase of Temperance Mill
A second mill, Temperance Mill in Stanningley, was purchased. The current partners decided they would split the company with one partner taking the Cape Mills site and the younger Abimelech Hainsworth (‘Young Bim’, the grandson of ‘Old Bim’) taking over Temperance Mill.
When ‘Young Bim’ took over the mill, it was empty. Within 2 years the Temperance Mill had been re-equipped with 55looms as well as scribblers, condensers and mules, for various spinning processes, pairs of stocks and eight milling machines for different finishes.
Shuttles
An early Dandy Loom
1869
A new weaving shed
In 1869 along came industrialisation and a new weaving shed was opened to house the new power looms. This saw the end of the time-honoured practice of handloom weaving on which the company had been built. A new era had begun.
The Hainsworth Family
AW Hainsworth
1845
'Young Bim' is born
Abimelech William Hainsworth (‘Young Bim’) was born.
Farsley is a small village in 1836
Captain Charles
1836
Abimelech Hainsworth dies
Abimelech died, his mill now employing half of the town of Farsley.
When Abimelech died in 1836 he was the wealthiest man in the district and left a personal estate of £12,000 and two thirds of Cape Mills. This included five acres of land, 14 cottages and a blacksmiths shop. His shares automatically passed to his three sons and three nephews but in just four years, five of the partners had passed away. With none of their sons of an age to succeed their fathers it left just one partner, John Senior and his son Charles to run the business.
The Battle of Waterloo
Scarlet Tunic Cloth
The Battle of Waterloo
1815
The Battle of Waterloo
When the might of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard was bearing down on the British lines of Waterloo, the ‘thin scarlet line’ was scarlet thanks to Hainsworth fabric.
Samuel Marsden
Merino Wool
1807
Samuel Marsden returns from Australia
Samuel Marsden, who was from Farsley, arrived back with the first bale of Wool from Australia in 1807. The wool was deemed to not of sufficient quality to be used by Hainsworth. Samuel took instruction from AW Hainsworth on the required specification and returned to Australia via Spain, taking with him Merino sheep. When he returned to AW Hainsworth with his new Australian-grown merino wool, this was accepted and thus the Australian merino wool trade was born.
4 acres in Farsley
An extract from Abimelech's account book
1800
Buying land and employing weavers
By 1800, Abimelech Hainsworth had saved up enough money to buy 4 acres at the bottom of the village of Farsley, Cape Mills, and in partnership with his brother Joseph gradually employed a number of handloom weavers.
An illustration of a hand loom weaver
Leeds Cloth Hall
1783
The Start of AW Hainsworth
Abimelech Hainsworth, ‘Old Bim’, started his clothiers (cloth merchant) business in Farsley Yorkshire, buying his cloth from cottage weavers in the area.
Cloth would be woven by hand loom weavers in their cottages and collected by ‘Old Bim’ who would then transport it by horse and cart to Leeds Coloured Cloth Hall. The tradition in the district at the time was to produce cloth dyed in the wool before spinning and weaving.
Abimelech began his trading with just half a crown. Following the sale of his first consignment of cloth, he brought a silver pint mug which he gradually filled with gold sovereigns.
Hainsworth and the military: woven together in history
In 1815, the troops at the Battle of Waterloo wore red thanks to the striking scarlet cloth produced by Hainsworth for the soldiers. In 1899, the military requested a new, less conspicuous fabric for the troops to wear while on duty. As a result we introduced Khaki Serge. When the Air Force separated from the Army in 1918, we proposed the distinctive blue cloth they have worn ever since
To this day, the Royal Guards wear scarlet tunic cloth at the most prestigious national events, and we work closely with our military tailor partners to maintain the same standards.
Resilience in the face of adversity
AW Hainsworth’s history hasn’t all been plain sailing – in fact, the mill faced disaster on two occasions in quick succession. In 1955, a fire broke out which destroyed three quarters of the entire mill. After a process of rebuilding, the mill then suffered a major flood due to a violent storm.
On both occasions, at a time when the business could have ceased to exist, Hainsworth took the opportunity to rebuild and come back stronger. This resilience is part of who we are as a company, and one of the reasons why we are still able to make cloth in the UK despite so much of the textile industry moving overseas.
New markets, new innovations
We have a long history of exploring new markets and developing new products, while progressing our core woollens business. Supplying wool melton to the London Fire Brigade in the early 1900s has since developed into our thriving Hainsworth Protective Fabrics business, with market leading innovations in flame-resistant cloth. We entered the Cue Sports arena in 1968, and now our cloth is on snooker and pool tables around the world.
We have explored, adapted and innovated, and in the current day have an enviable and diverse range of products and brands.
