17711771–1850 · Manchester and the Derwent Valley
The factory system and the cotton mills
Richard Arkwright's water-powered mill at Cromford in 1771 put spinning machines, shift work and child workers under one roof. Steam-powered mills soon filled Manchester's Ancoats district, and the city, linked to Liverpool by the first inter-city railway in 1830, became a byword for industrial capitalism. Its slums shaped Friedrich Engels's account of the English working class.
Sites
- Site 1: Cromford Mills, DerbyshireArkwright's first mill complex and workers' village in the Derwent Valley.Map ↗
- Site 2: Ancoats mills, ManchesterRestored early steam-powered cotton mills along the Rochdale Canal.Map ↗
- Site 3: Quarry Bank, StyalWorking cotton mill and the house where child apprentices lived.Map ↗
- Site 4: Liverpool Road Station, Science and Industry MuseumThe 1830 terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.Map ↗
Guides who take you there
History-only · order never for saleWe haven't found an independent history guide for this yet. Guide here? Tell us about your tours.
Also in Manchester and Liverpool
More from the 18th & 19th Century
Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.