Isatis tinctoria L.
First record: Ray,1660
Glastum sativum Woad. Ray,1670:134.
Culture and uses of Woad. [in latin] Ray,1686:842-3.
Glastum Officinarum Martyn,1727,82.
Dyer's Woad. Bab.ann.25.
58
Glastum sativum Woade. Planted about Littleport, in the isle of Ely. Ray,1660,62-63(68).
Glastum Littleport JM.ann.
Littleport Th.M.ann.Meth.-Index Loc.12.
Littleport. Martyn,1763,Herbat.XII.
Littleport Fisher ann. Berkenhout,192.
Planted about Littleport; Ray. Bab.1860,25 & Bab.MS.Fl.83.8.
Ely JM.ann.
Glastum Ely Th.M.ann.Meth.-Index Loc.6.
Isle of Ely. Martyn,1763,Herbat.XII.
I(sle of ) E(ly). Fisher ann. Berkenhout,192.
Woad. New Barns near Ely. Isle of Ely. Relhan,1785;1802;1820.
New Barns, Ely; Relh. Cultivated there for one year, but then discontinued at the request of the parish, for fear of increasing the number of paupers. W.M., Bab.1860.
30
Cultivated for the Woad Mills at Parson's Drove, about six miles from Wisbech. The balls of manufactured woad are still used in combination with indigo to dye cloths for the Army and Navy. The mixture is said to give a more permanent colour than indigo alone. Evans,1911,219.
[Newspaper cutting inserted: Aug. 22.[19]21, Daily Manch. [?], 'The gathering of the woad harvest ...is now in progress in the Fens. Woad (or as locally known, 'wad') is still cultivated in a small way for the sake of the blue dye it provides....The young shoots of blue green foliage are hand-picked into baskets by men and women who crawl over the fields, the man wearing leather knee caps and the women stuff aprons.'
Woad Mills were once a feature of the fen country, at Parson's Drove near Wisbech. They were in full swing in 1908, but fell out of use by the time of the Great War in 1914; and with them went the cultivation of the plant. Ray tells us that it was grown at Littleport, Relhan at Ely, and possibly there may have been other local mills in that part of the country. Evans,1939,46.
40 & 41
Near Wisbech. Mr. Woodward. Bot.Guide,1805,59.
This specimen from my Garden. June m: 1822. It was formerly cultivated at Wisbech in some field near the Horseshoe on the W. side of the River. It is at present cultivated at Newton, near Wisbech, from whence I procurred some plants with ripe seeds last year. 1822. [WS] Hort.Sicc.5:WBCH.
Isati tin...This Specimen from my Garden. 1822. It was formerly cultivated at Wisbech in some Fields near the Horse-shoe below the Town, on the West side of the River. It is now cultivated at Newton near Wisbech from whence I procured some plants with ripe Seeds last year. 1822 Skrim.MS.
Wisbech; Mr Woodward in Bot. Guide,i.59. Bab.1860,25 & Bab.MS.Fl.83.
àNear Wisbech. B.G. NBG,1835,144.
