SOAP
Bristol's Soap Making Heritage
Originally soap was made from ashes and animal fat known as tallow. In 1192 the monks of Devizes recorded a number of soap makers in Bristol and the unpleasant smell it produced! Later imports of palm, coconut, olive and linseed oils favoured soap making here. The Bristol Company of Soap makers recorded over 180 individuals and families in the soap trade between 1562 and 1642. A soft black soap called 'Bristol soap' was made and a harder 'Bristol Grey soap'.
Soap was taxed from 15th Century to 1853 when Victorians started encouraging sanitation and hygiene improvements.
In 1693 it was decreed that soap should not be made outside of London and Bristol. Bristol was allowed to produce 600 tons but London could make 5,000 tons! This almost destroyed the soap industry in Bristol. By 19th century soap making flourishes in Bristol, until the end of the First World War when the factories were taken over, mainly by Lever Brothers.
What we did
Young people from year 7 and year 10 of Hartcliffe secondary school, as well as young people the E2E and BS13 projects, made melt-and-pour glycerine soaps. They also made Elizabethan soap balls from soap flakes.
Resources
- 'Essentially Oils' sell soap bases soap flakes and glycerin solid (approximately £20 for 5kg). Contact: Essentially Oils, 8-19 Mount Farm, Junction Road, Churchill, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 6NP Tel 01608 659544 www.essentiallyoils.com
- 'Just a Soap' sell everything you need to make soap. www.justasoap.co.uk
To make your own soap balls 