Flannel

Flannel, a woollen material. It is manufactured by first of all scouring and "devilling" the wool, which is then carded, spun, woven, and fulled. The best British flannels are the Welsh, which are made from the short staple wool of the native mountain sheep. Their manufacture is carried on extensively at Newtown and Llanidloes in Montgomeryshire. Next in quality are the Lancashire flannels, in the making of which the wool of a variety of the Sussex breed is much employed. The chief seat of the Lancashire manufacture is Rochdale. At Barnsley and other places in Yorkshire, blankets are manufactured from wool of coarse staple imported from Mysore in India. Large quantities of flannel are exported from England, especially to Australia and British North America. The industry is now well established in the United States, where the flannels are made of closely twisted yarn, and are less fulled than the English.