- Information included in a historical study of Corsley by resident Christine Watts, a pupil of Form IVa, Frome Grammar School, during the school’s autumn term 1955:
In Corsley Church there is an inscription to George Carey, who set up this sign at the Clothworker’s Arms:
George Carey – The Clothworker’s Arms in Corsley 1616 – G.M.C.
The inscription is with a monument and coat of arms, and is in Latin.
Georgii Cary:
Christianna M.D.C.C.
There were cloth mills near Cley Hill; at Dartford, now High House Farm, which used to be a dye house; and at Sturford, or Temple, which was also a dye works. The Dye House and the Dye House Pond still exist. There were white railings on which the wool was dried at Temple.
At Mill House Farm there was a wool factory where the wool was spun into yarn, dyed and prepared. The yarn was carried by the villagers to be woven in their own homes.
Teazels [ teasels ] were grown round Cley Hill and Norich woods [ Norridge Wood ], and were used for raking the material to give it a surface and to draw all the threads one way.
The sheep were dipped at Sheepwash.
When the cloth industry started to decline, wool was fetched from the dye-works at Colpert Road, Frome.