1-158-933 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Silk weaver, Bethnal Green, East London, 1893. A weaver at work on a hand loom in his cottage at Bethnal Green. His loom is set up by a wide window typical of weaver's cottages in many English towns, and would be near the top of the building to take advantage of maximum light. The silk industry in Spitalfields and neighbouring areas of London was founded by Huguenot refugees who fled France after Louis XIV's Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). From La Science Illustree. (Paris, 1893).