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| Technical, Museum, and Picton
Reading Rooms, Liverpool |
Lancashire played a great role in England’s industrial revolution,
and was home to vigorous textile industries that grew quickly in
the beginning of the 19th century. Technological advances in water
and steam power increased the possibilities of manufacture in the
area, and allowed the whole county to develop into a major manufacturing
base.
Manchester in particular was affected by the massive growth of
the cotton industry- at one time, it was known locally as ‘Cottonopolis’.
The city was dominated by large seven or eight storey factory buildings-
Karl Schinkel, a German architect who visited the city in 1825,
wrote that they were so black, they looked a hundred years old already,
due to the pollution caused by combustion from industry. The factories
mechanised processes that had previously only been carried out by
hand, speeding up the rate of production and standardising the cloths
and yarns made.
However, the working conditions for many were less than ideal-
unscrupulous employers often hired very young children, subjected
employees to beatings, to fines for lateness, and general abuse
or discrimination was rife. The factories and mills could be an
intimidating work environment too, with dangerous heavy machinery
and incessant noise and fumes- diseases spread quickly throughout.
However, the factories provided mass employment, and it can’t
be denied that they were an economic success- the production, spinning,
weaving, bleaching and dyeing of cotton dominated Lancashire’s
trade, and by the middle of the 19th century, Lancashire completely
dominated the world market in textiles, employing around 5% of the
English populace. This was a phenomenal accomplishment, and the
county was hailed a model of industrialisation. The famous streets
of terraced houses were often owned by factory masters, and working
together in factories and living next door to one another in houses
created a unique kind of community spirit amongst workers at the
time. |
