THE STROUD Valleys were once world famous for the production of high quality woollen cloth and now the Museum in the Park is unravelling Wrapping the Globe, an exhibition celebrating the trade that made Stroud rich.

The distinctive Stroud broadcloth found many uses around the globe, from scarlet soldiers' uniforms to purple cloth covered casino tables in Monte-Carlo.

The cloth was also highly prized by indigenous peoples as far away as North America and the Arctic to New Zealand and Japan.

Wrapping the Globe explores links between the woollen textile industry in the Stroud Valleys and Devon, and the communities around the world that bought and used the cloth.

The exhibition includes a wide variety of objects, paintings, documents and textiles associated with the history of textiles in the Stroud Valleys and Devon.

It also includes costume and accessories from North America, Burma, Japan and China.

Items from the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and other collections in the UK complement material from the Museum in the Park in Stroud and the Stroudwater Textile Trust.

The focus is on cloths imported to North America by the Hudson's Bay Company, which traded with North America, and the English East India Company, which traded widely across Asia.

The Stroud Valleys produced broadcloths for both companies, while worsted Devonshire long ells were sold to the East India Company.

Wrapping the Globe: British South West Tradecloth Around the World runs at Stroud's Museum in the Park from Saturday, October 15 until April 16 2006.

Admission is free and the Museum in the Park is open Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 4pm.

The Museum will be closed in December, reopening on 1 January 2006.