Wippell will soon close after two centuries of catering to clergy, churches, and academics
The J. Wippell & Co. display at the Episcopal Church general convention in 2018. (Courtesy photo)
J. Wippell & Co., a British manufacturer of clerical clothing and church furnishings as well as academic gowns, plans to close the 234-year-old business by the end of the year.
Wippell & Co. began in Devon, England, in 1789, as a grocer and tea dealer, but the business eventually expanded to funeral services, selling fabrics and tailoring. A century later, Wipple started selling into “the groundswell of restoration and building in the Church of England,” according to a company history. The business went on to become an academic and clerical outfitter, and a supplier of church furnishings.
Its customers include universities in the United Kingdom and overseas, the Anglican Church and the Church of Scotland, as well as the United Reform Church, and Episcopal, Methodist and Baptist churches in the United States and in numerous other countries from Australia to Sweden, according to a company press release.
