A Personal History Of The Cornish Gansey Sweater.

The Gansey is unique to the fishing communities of Cornwall, the archipelago of the Scillys, Jersey and Guernsey. However, the style can also be seen throughout the maritime communities around the UK. Together, the three regions of Cornwall and the Channel Isles offer insight into a particular style of knitting that we can learn from and embrace in our wardrobes today.

Cornwall has diverse history intertwines land and sea, rich in tradition and folklore, with communities knitting relationships together to keep the stories alive. We cannot look at the Gansey sweater without appreciating the blending of the elements of earth and water, which is why looking at the history of both forms the basis to help us understand why the humble sweater is so important, before we get a bit deeper and look at its construction, local patterns and style in the upcoming blog posts.

Cornwall ‘My Home’:

Cornwall has offered my family a place to call home for generations; it runs in my blood, and over the next two blogs it is my joy and pleasure to share with you my own personal history that connects me with the Cornish Gansey.

My family heralds from Falmouth, the maritime seaport in the Southwest of England with the third deepest natural harbour in the world. With a busy working Queen’s Dock where the British Navy upkeep their vessels, and the pleasure boats bobbing in the Fal Estuary, we can see a shadow of the coastal work that once enveloped the town. For centuries, Falmouth has been where fishermen and traders have tied their boats up for respite from all weather out in the sea.

The rich history of the harbour can also be seen through ‘The Packet Service’, when in 1689 Falmouth was made a main port for England’s communication service in the form of letters, parcels, and items of trade (‘Packets’), going from Spain and Portugal, making Falmouth a bustling town and a centre for trade for two centuries.

Custom House Quay was built in 1670 by Sir Peter Killigrew, who was part of Cornwall’s most powerful family, (one of the members being Mary, a woman in the 1500s who led a successful double life as an aristocratic and infamous pirate). Custom Quays House controlled all post and mail coming in and out of Falmouth, and is the historic site of The Dolphin Inn, which my family owned for a time.

With the new ‘Royal Mail’ taking over The Packet Service in 1858 , ‘The Falmouth Docks Company’ was formed to help pivot the town away from postal and into repair work, helping provide for the new steam ships. This was an important step as not only were steam ships taking over sails, but they were also now being sent from Liverpool rather than Falmouth.

The plans for the new docks were drawn up in 1860, and the first was finished in 1864.

At this time The Cornish Railway was also building lines to help connect Falmouth to the rest of the country, and in 1863 trains arrived. The town began to reach a wider world and embrace a growth in imports and exports, continuing its importance for the Cornish economy.

Today I still enjoy the connections the trainline gives us as I regularly go and visit my family in London; without the foresight of those who helped build Falmouth to become a vital harbour town, my journeys today may not be so easy.

My link to the seas around Cornwall traverses many lines on the family tree. My Grandad, Cecil Timmins, was a Tug Master; a role that ensured his crew was safe on the seas in all weathers. My Uncle Barry Timmins and his four brothers were fishermen based in the local area, and Uncle Barry was a longstanding member of the RNLI.

The sailing continues to the current generation with both my nephews choosing to be sailors with boats harboured in Falmouth, and one nephew volunteers his time where Uncle Barry did, as part of the local lifeboat crew. It is easy for me to understand why I get jittery if I cannot see the sea for a while and why seeing it when I get home is important for my soul.

A Bit of History:

I firmly believe that the history of the sea makes the Gansey Sweater so unique; we would not have this impressive piece of traditional workwear without the people who worked on the sea. It was the communities on land that made the sweaters to help keep their loved ones warm as they sailed out from the harbours.

Cornwall’s history of wool has been documented to around 2000 years ago, and evidence of early tools has been found all around the county.

Liskeard is a town between Plymouth and Falmouth, two great trading ports, and it is unsurprising to me that it became a place where wool was sorted and traded. Liskeard saw its height of ‘yarn fame’ peaking in the 17th and 18th century, with around two-thirds of the population being employed directly through the production of wool and yarn.

With the seaports and trading roads being so close, it is easy to see how fine Cornish wool was transported worldwide and throughout the United Kingdom.

Many homes would have had their own spinning wheels, and the cottage industries that thrived all over the UK before the invention of the Spinning Jenny in 1770 would have been apparent in Cornwall also. Spinning, knitting, and weaving were skills passed down through the generations, and with the family tradition of sailing, it is easy to see how people merged the sea and land together. Although the industrialisation of spinning changed remarkably, knitting in Cornwall stayed traditional in most aspects, and this is where we start to see the emergence of the Gansey Sweater.

It would be easy to imagine that Gansey’s were knitted simply for loved ones, but in fact the production of this style of sweater became so popular that it created a huge industry for the families in the towns and villages. With easy export routes through the ports, Cornwall again could produce items to sell in the 17th and 18th centuries. Knitting communities grew, and sweaters were sold. Women and children were able to bring much-needed income into the family homes when the men were away, and as women tend to do, they did this together, forming groups and sharing skills.

Traditionally, the 5ply worsted wool was dyed a navy colour with indigo, and the spin of the yarn enabled it to keep the men on the sea somewhat weatherproof.

(The subtle difference between a Gansey and a Jersey sweater is that a Jersey will be made of a finer yarn and in another colour, rather than a dark blue. )

It would be knitted on tiny needles of around 2mm, making the stitches small, and when combined with the ply of yarn, this is when the fabric forms its unique qualities to keep the wind and spray away from our bodies.

Rather than being worn as a simple sweater as we would wear one today, the Gansey was to be worn as outerwear, and so the ease was around 8 inches. The knits and purls used to make the patterns on the ‘frocks’ (a traditional word used for the sweaters, which can still be heard in the villages such as Polperro) were unique to the communities.

In the next blog, we will examine the importance of the construction style, which allowed the Gansey to work so well.

The Cornish are known for our pride in our county, and as I look back on the history of our seaman, our shepherds, wool producers and knitters in my family and the wider community, I am filled with it once again.

For a handmade sweater to be worn as a statement of pride on a Sunday at Church, as well as out to sea with the winds lashing to bring the fish to harbour, is quite a marvel for a humble sweater, and gives us a true insight to the importance of its historical heritage.

Walking down Falmouth High Street to my shop, Stitches and Cream, I remember my family’s history of this road and the town’s. The shop is just a few doors down from The Star and Garter pub, owned by my family and a place where the RNLI and fisherman would gather. My shop is also part of a row that burned down in ‘the largest and most calamitous fire that probably ever visited on the County of Cornwall’ in 1862, with fortunately very few casualties.

To think of all the hubbub going on in Falmouth in that year; the docks being built, along with the railroad creeping ever nearer, it is a reminder that our past surrounds us and forms us. The Gansey Sweater, for me, is a mark of that, and one that is a joy to knit.

Frangipani Guernsey 5ply Blacker Guernsey