20: Famous For Feathers

It’s not one of the town’s more high profile industries but the Jaffé et Fils feather factory that has occupied the Old Brush Works on Castle Hill since 1976 is another that takes the name of Axminster across the world and whose customers include royalty.

Chances are you will have seen Jaffé feathers on both the big and small screen given that the factory has supplied epics like Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones and Frankenstein. It also produces hackles, plumes and bonnets for military finery, feathers for fashion accessories, and even feathers for quill pens. In Jaffé hands, ordinary feathers become beautiful, vibrant, and in many cases spectacular!

Now in its third generation of the Jaffé family, the business processes feathers on its own premises, where they are individually hand-sorted and dyed ahead of further feather preparation and manufacturing. The feathers are by-products of farmed poultry or common game birds (from the UK wherever possible) rather than from rare or endangered species.