The Built Environment Transformed: Textile Lancashire during the Industrial Revolution

This book is concerned with the remarkable changes made to the built environment in Lancashire’s main textile district – essentially the eastern and central parts of the county – during the Industrial Revolution (c1780-c1850). A case-study approach is taken, with findings from investigations at six different types of site being presented. The sites included are water-powered mill remains in the Cheesden Valley, near Rochdale; Barrow Bridge factory village, near Bolton; the former handloom weavers’ colony at Club Houses, Horwich; Preston’s Winckley Square; Eanam Wharf at Blackburn; and, to the north of Bolton, the road between Bromley Cross and Edgworth. The case studies show how, in rural and urban areas alike, developments in industry, housing and transport greatly extended the built environment and brought striking new features to it. Emphasis is placed on interpreting the physical evidence the sites provide, linking it with that taken from various types of documentary source, especially historical maps. By making comparisons with developments occurring at similar types of site elsewhere in Britain, as well as in Europe and North America, the forms the changes took are explained and their significance assessed. Additionally, insights are provided into the economic and social impact the changes brought, especially on the everyday lives that people led.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: scope and methods Chapter 1: Harnessing water power: Cheesden valley textile mills Chapter 2: Housing the workforce: Barrow Bridge ‘model’ factory village Chapter 3: Working at home: the handloom weavers’ colony at Club Houses, Horwich Chapter 4: Housing the better-off: Winkley Square, Preston Chapter 5: Canal-side development: Eanam wharf at Blackburn Chapter 6: Route realigning: the Bromley Cross and Edgworth road Conclusion: Reviewing the transformation

About the Author :
Geoffrey Timmins is Emeritus Professor in the School of Humanities, Language and Global Studies at the University of Central Lancashire.

Review :
‘Winner of the Association for Industrial Archaeology's Peter Neaverson Award for Outstanding Scholarship’ ‘The book is very readable, highly informative, and clearly demonstrates the author's outstanding breadth and depth of understanding... many copies of this valuable book are likely to become very well thumbed.’ Niall Logan, Family & Community History ‘Skilfully blending local and regional insights with a keen appreciation of national and international contexts, Geoff Timmins’ latest volume presents a series of case study investigations which illuminate the changes wrought to Lancashire’s built environment (both urban and rural) as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Seeking in each of its six substantive chapters to offer fresh perspectives and, through so doing, enhancing both existent academic knowledge and understanding, this is a carefully curated volume that has relevance to a wide cross-disciplinary readership.’ Bertie Dockerill, The Local Historian