Maybe it was a measure to support the woolen industry.
Pauline
Then again, from the cambridgeshire family history site:
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Snippets from the Fens List
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Buried in Woolen
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A discussion thread followed the phrase "buried in woolen" which appeared in some records.
It was apparently the law at some point that anyone buried was required to purchase a woolen shroud of a certain price to support the English wool market and English farmers, failure to use a woolen shroud resulted in a £5 fine
payable to the churchwarden and distributed to the needy of the parish. Apparently it was the result of the 1677 & 1678 wool acts that required
that all corpses should be buried in a woolen shroud unless they died of
plague. This seems to have fallen into disuse during the 18th century and
was finally repealed in 1814. Although it appears that it may have existed
as a royal decree prior to the acts being passed.
The following quotation was listed as reference:
"Following the Burial in Woollens Act of 1666 - 80, some parishes kept
copies of burials in the churchwardens' accounts, or in a separate affidavit
volume. Reference to this affidavit, which had to be signed by a magistrate
(or clergyman if no JP was available) often occurs in the normal parish
register. Although the Act remained in force until 1814, it fell into disuse
between 1750 and 1780"
Source: The Family Tree Detective: Tracing your ancestors in England and Wales, Chapter IV Looking for Deaths, pg 226.
Manchester Unity Press. ISBN 0 7190 5213 0
Well I never.