The lace industry was originally established in Britain by Flemish and Huguenot refugees in the sixteenth century and mainly settled in the midland counties and in Devon. Honiton Lace remaining popular throughout the reign of Queen Victoria; but the rise of the machine and the production of machine-made lace caused this delicate form of handicraft to dwindle almost to vanishing point. Kept alive, only by dedicated craftsmen and craftswomen.