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Industrial Heritage

Lancashire was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, which in the space of a century, between 1750 and 1850, transformed the life of England and in turn the rest of the world.

The county is traditionally associated with cotton and it was here that major advancements were made in the production of cotton, enabling manufacturing to be moved from houses to factories. Lancashire cotton masters claimed that they satisfied the home market before breakfast and catered for the rest of the world afterwards.

The Lancashire Cotton Industry

Lancashire did not survive on cotton alone, it needed coal also and mining flourished as it never had before or since. A single horse could pull at least twenty times as much in a barge as in a wagon and it was cheaper, despite the fact that the journey was twice as long as travelling by road.

Top Industrial Heritage Attractions in Lancashire:

• Earby Lead Mining Musuem
• The Helmshore Mill Museum
• Queen Street Textile Museum
• Bancroft Mill Steam Engine Museum
• The Weaver's Triangle

An inevitable result of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of large industrial towns, with urban amenities. Markets developed in a number of towns, which stretched across the Pennines from Preston through to Colne via Blackburn.

Lancashire's Industrial Heritage is rich and colourful for it was here that drove the nation's economy with the birth of the country's cotton industry. The county spawned such great inventors and innovators. Richard Arkwright, the world's first great industrialist was born in Preston, who together with John Kay produced a machine able to spin yarns at faster speeds before a twist was imparted.

To fully appreciate the Lancashire of today, you must fully appreciate its past. No visit to the county would be complete without understanding the role it played in what is arguably the most single significant event in history...the Industrial Revolution.