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Helen Beatrix Potter was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist, best known for her children's books featuring animals, there aren’t many of us that have not heard of, or read The Tale of Peter Rabbit, her first commercially published book in 1902, and today is her birthday! She was born on the 28th of July 1866, but did you know that she created one of her most loved characters here in Gloucester, The Tailor of Gloucester!
In May 1884, Beatrix Potter was staying with her cousin Caroline Hutton, at Harescombe Grange which is five miles south of Gloucester. It was Caroline that told Beatrix the tale of John Pritchard, a local tailor whom when closing his shop one Friday evening left a cut out waistcoat ready to be sewn together. The following Monday when John opened the shop, he discovered that the waistcoat had been sewn together, all but one button, and there he found a tiny note!
The note read ‘no more twist’…
Both amazed and bewildered, from this time on, John Pritchard advertised that his work and been ‘made at night by fairies’! Upon hearing the story, Beatrix went to visit the tailor’s shop at Number 45 Westgate Street. Whilst visiting, Beatrix sketched some of the beautiful buildings in the cathedral city of Gloucester, including 9 College Court, which was the building she chose for the setting of the story.
In 1901 Beatrix committed the tale to paper as a Christmas present for the daughter of one of her tutors, Freda Moore.
MY DEAR FREDA,
Because you are fond of fairy- tales, and have been ill, I have made you a story all for yourself – a new one that nobody has read before. And the queerest thing about it is – that I heard it in Gloucestershire, and that it is true – at least about the tailor, the waistcoat, and the “No more twist!”
Christmas, 1901
Beatrix later reworked the story, and this became the edition Frederick Warne published in October 1903.
The House of the Tailor of Gloucester is today a charming museum and quaint shop. The building is easy to find in College Court which stands within the shadow of the Cathedral, and you can see her drawing of the building on page 37 in The Tailor of Gloucester, which she described as her ‘favourite book.
Historically, the original building on the site of the House of the Tailor of Gloucester can be traced back to 1535. Since the 1930s, the ‘House’ has been a selection of different businesses, including a bakery, a grocery store, a cleaning and dying service. When Beatrix was visiting Gloucester, the beautiful building that was to become the inspiration for the Tailor and Simpkins residence was occupied by the Broadway Oyster Company. In 1978, the property was purchased by Frederick Warne and Co. Ltd. and, using Beatrix Potter’s illustrations in The Tailor of Gloucester, Warne’s remodelled the shop’s interior and frontage.
Visitors may enjoy the Tailor’s kitchen, reconstructed from Beatrix Potter’s drawings (pages 17 & 21) from the large fireplace, the grand clock to the dresser where Simpkin sits proudly keeping watch over his captured mice, under the arrangement of teacups.
Upstairs you can read history of the original Tailor, John Prichard, and view a collection of his work tools. The walls and glass cases are filled with beautiful Beatrix Potter memorabilia. After looking at the display where the mice work on the waistcoat, there is a beautiful shop to purchase meaningful and wonderful souvenirs.
This magical experience is free for everyone to enjoy, and we highly recommend a visit.
Find out more HERE
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