Chair-making in Holcombe Rogus

[Big Andy]

In the 185o's there were numerous chair-makers in the small village of Holcombe Rogus in Devon :-

Jas. Scott
John Tooze
William Tooze
WILLIAM WARREN
Thomas Tristram,

to name but a few

It seems strange to me to see so many chair-makers in the one small village.

William Warren was one of my ancestors and I would be fascinated to know what sort of chairs he was making and to try to understand what was going on in that village. It seems to have been a chair-making centre for some reason and I can't work out why.

If anyone can throw some light on this, I would appreciate it.