Tillet block

This decorative wooden tillet block was used for printing customs details on wool bales due for export. All wool exported from Britain had to be packed in bales printed with details of their content. This block was produced at a printing works located at Horselydown in Bermondsey and would have been used on a late 18th century wooden hand printing press. The block identifies the contents of the bale as 'Fine Serge London fine serge and 24 yds' (24 yards being the equivalent of of 21.94 metres). The block is also carved with a representation of Britannia seated beside a crowded quayside with bales of fabric and an 'industrious' beehive. Serge was primarily produced in Devon and Somerset. It would have been transported to the port of London for export to Europe, America and the Caribbean.