What do we mean when we say British wool?

British wool is the umbrella term for regional wool sourced from sheep in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It covers Welsh, English, Scottish and Irish wool although where possible on the website we try to mention the origin of the wool to support each individual region.

Why are some of the production processes so far away from each other and so sparse ?

Our map is an open source which is constantly being updated, but reflects the reality of the amount of production processes such as mills and manufacturers left in the UK. Small radius production is possible in parts of the British Isles (geographically), and we hope that this will gradually increase with more awareness and transitions towards localised production systems.

How much British wool currently goes in knitwear and other uses?

According to British Wool (former British Wool Marketing Board) they report just 10% of the 30,000 tonnes of wool sheared per year, from approximately 45,000 sheep farmers goes into knitting and 5% for ‘other uses’ such as cloth and insulation. The remaining 60% goes into carpets and 25% is exported for use overseas.