Bridport Dorset
Rope and nets of all kinds have been made at Bridport for nearly 1,000 years. In the past the bulk of the rope output was for the
rigging of ships. But ropes for gallows were also made there, and the hangman’s noose was nicknamed the “Bridport
dagger”.
The town was the biggest net-making centre in Europe.
The long gardens at the rear of the houses were used as rope-walks, places where the flax strands were Laid Out and twisted into shape.