Monk making silk, St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, Hants

Monks make silk for the Queen's Coronation robe. In a tiny cell on the fifth floor of St Michael's Abbey at Farnborough, Hants, monks are now busy producing some of the silk which will be used in the Queen's Coronation robes. They use spinning wheels and looms which have changed little in the course of years. The silk worms are raised at the Abbey and to feed them a mulberry plantation has been established in the grounds from seeds of the white fruited mulberry which friends on the Continent have sent to the Abbey. Fine vestments and tapestries for use in Catholic Churches throughout the country are made at the Abbey by Dom Edmund Fait and his assistant Dom Anscar Neilsen who comes from Denmark. Photo shows Dom Edmund Fait washing the cocoons from which are extracted the beautiful silken threads. Besides making silk for the Coronation robes, the Abbey also produces some of the beautiful tapestries and vestments used in Catholic Churches throughout the country

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Besides Changed Cocoons Continent Established Extracted Fait Farnborough Feed Fruited Hants Looms Monks Mulberry Neilsen Plantation Produces Producing Seeds Silken Spinning Tapestries Threads Throughout Tiny Tonsure Vestments Worms

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