Only surviving fragment of ‘slave’ cloth found in Derbyshire record office

Exclusive: 240-year-old scrap of indigo woollen cloth identified as fabric made in Yorkshire to clothe millions of enslaved people

It is a scrap of indigo woollen cloth that is slightly moth-eaten and so tiny that few would give it a second glance, but a 1783 note on its reverse has revealed its chilling significance.

Discovered in a public record office in England, it has been identified as the only surviving fragment of its kind used to clothe millions of enslaved people in the Caribbean and North America for almost 200 years. This coarse fabric, known as ‘slave’ or ‘negro’ cloth, was woven in West Yorkshire, close to the town of Penistone, from which it derives its name.