Cotton Mills of Lancashire

Cotton Mills in Lancashire NEW

• • Cotton was the main industry of Lancashire, Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution.

• Cotton mills needed a good supply of water this contributed to the development of canals, the cotton industry is also attributed to the growth of Manchester City, as the cotton production grew so did the need to have places to sell it. Manchester City was the centre of the Cotton Industry in Northern England.

A mule – jenny

A Roberts self acting mule

mule spinning in a cotton mill in 1835.

• From 1825 the steam engine was able to power larger machines which were constructed from iron using improved machine tools. Mills from 1825-1865 were generally constructed with wooden beamed floors and lath and plaster ceilings. Mills were of red brick or sometimes local stone, but there was a greater attention to decoration, with pilasters, and the main gate was often highlighted with stone decoration. The stair columns were still exterior to the main floors. During this period the mules got wider and the width of the bays increased. Specialised mill architects appeared. In rural areas the mill and its associated village were often built together, but in the city the mill was built separately.

• In 1860 Lancashire had over 1900 mills operating with at least 300 000 workers.

• The manufacture of woollen cloth particularly baize, kerseys and flannels were important from the reign of Henry VIII. At this time the industry was rooted in the domestic system but towards the end of the 18th century mills powered by water were built. Waterpower was replaced by steam power in the 19th century and coal mines, mostly drifts mines, were opened where coal from the lower coal measures outcropped around the town. The Deardens who were lords of the manor were among the local coal owners. By the mid 1800s the woollen trade was declining and the cotton trade which took advantage of technological developments in spinning and weaving growing in importance. Rochdale became one of the world's most productive cotton spinning towns when rose to prominence during the 19th century as a major mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns

I have added these details because it suggests why our ancestors moved over the boarder to Lancashire and what they did there.

There surely must have been a lot of work for our sawyer ancestors, with mills, homes, warehouses etc. requiring materials for fabrication.

Also people would have seen jobs as plentiful in the speedily growing industry of cotton manufacturing and all the sidelines required to keep the industry and the peoples running.