A previously overlooked segment of local heritage is set to be uncovered in West Yorkshire.
The Sunny Bank Mills Museum and Archive in Farsley has secured £243,449 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to launch Dyevolution, a three-year undertaking exploring a pivotal moment in British textile history.
At the heart of the initiative are six fragile dye record books covering the period 1888 to 1908, containing wool samples that document how the industry moved from natural colourings to manufactured alternatives.
Rachel Moaby, the heritage director at Sunny Bank Mills, said the funding would help protect one of West Yorkshire’s most significant textile heritage collections. She expressed gratitude to National Lottery players for making the project possible. The record books are extremely delicate but offer an extraordinary window into dyeing practices during an era of rapid technological change. They track the transition from natural to synthetic dyes, an innovation that transformed textile production yet has received little scholarly attention.
The Dyevolution scheme aims to conserve, scan and examine the ledgers, while undertaking new research and sharing findings with the public.
The work is being supported by the British Museum.
Dr Diego Tamburini, a polymer and modern organic materials specialist at the museum, noted that these ledgers represent a rare and invaluable resource. With their precise dating and inclusion of both natural and artificial dye samples, they provide a unique perspective on how colourists experimented with new substances as synthetic dyes emerged. Using the British Museum’s sophisticated equipment, researchers can determine dyes at the molecular level, research that could substantially advance knowledge in heritage science.
Dyevolution will additionally create reference data to assist in recognizing dyes within other historic textiles, with findings that will extend considerably beyond the Sunny Bank Mills project.