Guild members were treated to a wonderful talk on The Llangorse Lake textile finds, by Louise Mumford, Head Conservator from The National Museum of Wales. Louise gave us a detailed insight into the amazing discovery in 1990 of a piece of charred textile found during archaeological excavations on and around the crannog on Llangorse Lake.
Louise outlined the painstaking work that went into revealing the secrets of the woven textile and conserving the fragments of cloth dating from the 9th century. She told us that the base material of the textile was a very fine plain-weave linen. Silk and linen threads had been used to decorate the textile with birds and other creatures within a framework of vines, and with borders containing repeating patterns or lions.
The skill with which this work has been accomplished continues to be a source of wonder. The linen has 23 threads to the centimetre - a magnificent achievement given the equipment available in the 9th and 10th centuries AD.
The textile appears to be part of a garment, perhaps a tunic or dress - it has a hem and a belt loop - but unfortunately too little survives to indicate its detailed shape.
Crickhowell Guild members were joined by members from other Guilds in Hereford, Gwent, Brecon and Pembrokeshire.
A big thank you to Louise for a fascinating talk and to Sue for organising.
