The date when needlemaking came to the area is unknown but there is documentary evidence showing its presence in the last quarter of the 17th century: Richard Badson, needlemaker, left Studley for Alcester in 1677(VCH) and Coughton parish registers show needlemakers there and at Sambourne at the same time. Needlemaking started as a cottage industry, being well-established by the end of the 18th cent; Alcester is said to have had 600 needleworkers by 1817 ("Topographical Description of Warwickshire" Dugdale 1817) . The other large centre was Studley, with groups at Coughton and Sambourne.

The introduction of water-power to needlemaking, especially scouring, in the local corn mills (v. section on mills) gave employment to some, as did the setting up of factories; but right through the needlemaking period (into the 20th century) many families laboured at particular processes in back kitchens and outhouses. There is now no evidence of this work, even where the back sheds remain. in Alcester, most streets would have borne witness to some of the needlemaking processes. The details below are of the factory sites (none of which was in operation in the industry’s early days) employing anything from two or three men to twenty or thirty. The processes needed to produce needles, some needing skilled workers, others being done by women and children, included:- straightening, stamping, eyeing, pointing, filing, scouring, hardening, finishing and papering.