Woad in the Somme

Our second last night in France we had an invitation to stay at a farm in a village in the Somme producing woad: another interesting night. Woad becomes the prettiest blue colour when prepared as a dye and is extracted from a plant that belongs to the cabbage family.  When it is young it looks a little like spinach but as it flowers it grows long stalks hung with leaves. Harvesting waits till this time and is simple, just twisting the leaves off once they are mature around the summer solstice, and soaking them and the plant stems until they are pulp. The pulp is then compressed into shells, sundried and utilised when needed, by crushing the shells into a powder and adding water and sometimes urine, to cause oxidation.

Before the trade routes allowed indigo to be introduced to regions like France and England, woad was widely used. It has been found in cave drawings, on ancient pottery and even one of the Lidisfarne Gospels is illustrated in blue pigment that is thought to be woad dye.

During its heydey a little village near Amiens had three steam-powered factories, employing over 500 workers, producing woad-coloured socks, stockings and sweaters. Today there is no trace of that. It is a quiet rural village now with hardly any movement at all apart from bird flight atop its high spired church. But a little woad is once again being cultivated in this quiet village so things may not remain quiet forever.

oooOOOooo

Fishing nets are sometimes the colour of woad

Woad prepared as a dye

 Mericourt-en-Vimeu spire