Kidderminster owes its growth to the early development of the cloth industry, which was aided by its position upon the River Stour, and its location at the congruence of four main roads to Birmingham, Dudley, Worcester and Bewdley and Bridgnorth. In a visit to the town sometime around 1540, King's Antiquary John Leland noted that Kidderminster "standeth most by clothing". Over the following centuries the town specialised in textile trades such as weaving, fulling, cloth working and milling, and was also home to numerous other trades including shoemaking, haberdashery, saddle making, dyers, tailors, tanners and glovers.