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Wilton: Huguenot weavers (1720s) and the first Wilton loom (1741)

Research finding · not yet checked at the source

Date: 1720s–1741
Themes: Woven carpet

View at the source Cited in chapter 1, note 18 Cited in chapter 3, note 21

Cite this source

“Wilton: Huguenot weavers (1720s) and the first Wilton loom (1741).” Research note. wiltoncarpets.com/about-us/our-heritage.

Research notes

The 9th Earl of Pembroke brought French weavers to Wilton in the early 1700s (the firm dates it to 1721); its timeline says the first Wilton loom was patented in 1741 and credits Defosse with cutting the loops of Brussels weave. Wilton is the cut-pile variant of Brussels carpet, made on the same narrow looms. Company account: the inventor and patent are unconfirmed elsewhere. Conflict (Oct 2026 research): the Victoria County History (Wiltshire vol. 4) gives the first written evidence of carpet at Wilton as a 1741 patent to Couran, Barford and Moody for carpet "Moccadoes", says that loom had no cutting device, and points to French "moquettes" for cut pile. The firm credits Defosse with cutting the loops in 1741, and dates its French weavers to 1721 (the town's heritage trail says 1741). See woven-wilton-1741-patent-moccadoes and woven-wilton-french-weavers.