On 8 October 1252 he and his brother appear involved in the cloth trade for the first time.

He entered the cloth trade and became on the "greatest clothier in his time".

At this time the town was prosperous because of its wool and cloth trade.

This formerly powered a number of mills, involved in some way with the cloth trade.

Perhaps surprisingly, there is little evidence of the cloth trade in the parish at all.

The latter was probably converted after the decline of the cloth trade.

Historically, the town's economic foundation was the cloth trade.

The woollen cloth trade was the engine that drove the city's economy.

Within the next ten years, the area developed into a leading market town and a major cloth trade was established.

This was a result of the prominence of the area in the cloth trade.