Dorset Buttons

The Heritage Craft of Dorset Buttons features four main styles:

The Rise and Fall of the Dorset Button Industry

It is generally accepted that the first Dorset Button produced on an industrial scale was by Abraham Case in 1622 from the town of Shaftesbury.  A native of the Cotswolds, Case had travelled extensively in Europe and it is likely that his original work was based directly on these experiences, although accounts differ as to what was the direct influence.

High Tops and then Dorset Knobs were the original designs but little else is known of the development of the fledgling industry and Case’s grandson, Peter, introduced the wire ring to form the basis of the button.  Imported from England’s industrial heartland of Birmingham the introduction of wire allowed the industry to enjoy a significant period of expansion and by the end of the century the business, managed by Yorkshireman John Clayton, was employing nearly 700 women and children.  Similar growth was made by other family businesses and it is estimated that over 7,000 were directly employed making Dorset Buttons.

However this was to be the zenith of the industry as through the first half of the 19th century there was a gradual decline in button making and the demand for hand made buttons. The decline became a slump when in 1851, John Ashton,  demonstrated a button making amchine at the Great Exhibition.  Quicker, cheaper and flat the new style, machined buttons, quickly superceded the ‘thread button of Dorsetshire’.

With wide spread unemployment and extensive emigration, not helped by significant unemployment amongst farm labourers, it would have been very easy for the skill to become yet another heritage craft lost forever.  However through the foresight of Dowager Florence Lees the skills and designs were saved.  She travelled extensively around the county, visiting families to learn about the buttons and then revived a cottage industry make hand made buttons for parliamentarians utilising their consituency colours.  Though this revival was halted by the outbreak of the First World War the craft had been saved.

And today?
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More recently has seen a resurgance through the work of contemporary designers, like TJFrog, who have developed the traditional buttons through using modern yarns, materials and evolving the designs.

Once more we are seeing the rise of the Dorset Button, 400 years after its debut at Shaftesbury.