Local historian seeks stories from Westbury’s glove-making past

A local historian is calling on residents to share their memories of Westbury and Warminster’s once-thriving glove-making industry for a new booklet celebrating this unique aspect of the area’s heritage.

Rachael Holtom, a former archivist at Dents – the renowned Warminster glove manufacturer still in operation today – is spearheading the project to preserve the stories of workers and families connected to the trade.

Rachael explained, “I’d love to hear from anyone who worked at the factories, like Boultons, Jefferies, or Reynolds & Kent in Westbury, or who remembers their mums making gloves at home. These businesses were once world-renowned, and their legacy deserves to be recorded for future generations.”

She added, “I’d love to talk with people in an informal conversation—definitely more of a chat than an interview—and find out what it was like to work in the trade, the tasks involved, the smells of the factories, the socials, or what it was like to grow up in a house full of glove parts.

“The project has kindly been funded by the Arts Council, and I look forward to meeting people.”

If you have memories to contribute, contact Rachael Holtom at rachael.holtom@gmail.com or call 07774 613586.

Pictured: The cutting room at Boultons, 1938