| In
the 18th Century textile production was the most important industry in
Britain. Most work was carried out at home. Most cloth was
made from either wool or cotton, but silk and flax were also used. The
woven cloth was sold to clothiers. These were merchants who
visited the village who would sell the cloth on. Most was
exported, yet some was made into clothes for British people.
The
Industrial Revolution saw the methods of production change - more and
more efficient methods were introduced.
The
Woollen Industry began in the Middle Ages using wool grown at home.
Leeds in Yorkshire became the place where cloth was exchanged and
finished. In 1770 Leeds had a population of 16,000. Thirty
years later, in 1800, this figure doubled!
The
Cotton Industry developed in the 1750s in three main areas: Manchester
(North-West England), Nottingham (Midlands) and Clyde Valley
(Scotland). By the 1780s the Manchester area dominated the
Industry. The Cotton Industry became an enormous industry for
Britain, with 100,000 spinners and 250,000 weavers working in 1812.
By the 1830s more than half of British exports were cotton textiles.
Clever
inventions such as the Flying Shuttle in 1738, the Spinning Jenny in 1764
and the Power-Loom in 1802 all increased efficiency. This meant that
cloth could be produced quicker and cheaper than before. Water and
later steam powered machinery in purpose built factories all increased
output. By 1850 there were 250,000 cotton power looms in Britain,
with 177,000 of them in Lancashire.
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