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Industrialisation
in Victorian Lancashire
The industrialisation
of Lancashire was fast and furious from the 1750s onwards. Towns, factories
and industry developed rapidly amongst the many small villages of central
Lancashire as textile industries were established within the county.
Fuelled by water and then driven by steam power, and hastened by technological
advances, entrepreneurialism and commercial acumen, by the middle of
the 19th century the county had become the major manufacturing base
of Britain. As the burgeoning factories needed expanding labour forces,
mass migrations took place from agricultural Lancashire into towns like
Manchester, Salford, Darwen, Blackburn, Burnley, Oldham, Rochdale, Accrington
and Haslingden. It was to become the model for world wide industrialisation.
Canals and
railways made the importation of raw materials and exportation of finished
manufactures feasible and inexpensive and many fortunes would be made
by irresponsible and callous mill owners at the expense of their workers.
The typical working day was 14 hours long, but many were much longer,
as, without regulation, unscrupulous mill owners could demand any terms
they liked. (See: "Working
Conditions in Victorian Manchester") . East Lancashire
pits and coal mines at Worsley made the fuel of industry readily available.
The Manchester Ship Canal
made international trade a reality without the need for slow or
expensive overland transportation.
Cotton dominated
Lancashire (See: "King
Cotton"). By the mid-19th century Lancashire cotton
dominated the world market in textiles - by the end of the century its
output exceeded 1 billion kilos and contributed around 11% of the national
economy, employing around 5% of the population of England.
Map of Contemporary
Lancashire © John Moss 2003
Contemporary
Lancashire
After 1914, many
of Lancashire's smaller townships and parishes were rationalised and
combined, as was the case with Lytham St Anns, Morecambe and Heysham.
By 1955 Lancashire had 17 county boroughs, 26 municipal boroughs, 66
urban districts and 14 rural districts.
1974 saw massive reorganisation and rationalisation, with the county
effectively being truncated as three major areas were taken out of its
domain: Boroughs like Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham and Bolton were absorbed
into the newly created Greater Manchester Metropolitan County.
Similarly,
parts of Sefton, Liverpool and St Helens were incorporated into the
new Merseyside Metropolitan County. Finally, the Furness and Cartmel
Peninsulas in the southern Lake District were taken out of Lancashire
and since then have been part of the county of Cumbria.
Few of these "removed"
areas were happy with the arrangement, and the people of Bolton, Oldham
and Rochdale proudly insist that they still live in Lancashire and largely
spurn all attempts to persuade them to accept Greater Manchester as
anything more than an unfortunate administrative concoction. Other parts
of Greater Manchester were taken from the old county of Cheshire, (Stockport
and Altrincham, for example), and they in like manner cling to Cheshire
as their native county.
See Also:
Map of 17th Century Parishes
of Lancashire
Lancashire County
Council
PO Box 78, Christ
Church Precinct, County Hall,
Preston, Lancashire PR1 8XJ
Lancashire Related
websites
- This is Lancashire:
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk
- Lancashire Online:
http://www.lancashire-online.co.uk
- Lancashire Tourism
Partnership: http://www.lancashiretourism.com
- West Lancashire
District : http://www.westlancsdc.gov.uk
- About Lancashire:
http://www.about-lancashire.com
- Friends of Real
Lancashire: http://www.forl.co.uk
- Lancashire Environment
& Countryside website: http://www.lancsenvironment.com/countryside/index.htm
- Historic Maps
of Lancashire: http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/oldmap/index.asp
Lancashire &
Regional Tourist Information Centres
- Accrington: Town
Hall, Blackburn Road, Tel: 01254 872595.
- Barnoldswick:
Post Office Buildings, Fernlea Avenue,
Barnoldswick, B18 5DL. Tel: 01282 666704.
- Blackburn: 15-17
Railway Road. Tel: 01254 681120/53277.
- Blackpool: 1
Clifton Street. Tel: 01253 478222.
- Burnley: The
Bus Station, Tel: 01282 423125.
- Chorley: 35-39
Market Street, Tel: 01257 241693.
- Clitheroe: 12/14
Market Place, Tel: 01200 442226.
- Fleetwood: 15
North Albert Street, Tel: 01253 772704.
- Hebden Bridge:
1 Bridge Gate, Tel: 01422 843831.
- Ingleton: Community
Centre. Tel: 015242 41049.
- Lancaster: Bus
Station, Tel: 01524 841656.
- Leyland: 2 Sandy
Lane, Tel: 01772 621857.
- Lytham: 4 Clifton
Square, Tel: 01253 794405.
- Morecambe: Station
Buildings, Central Promenade, Tel: 01524 582808.
- Nelson: The Bus
Station, Broadway, Tel: 01282 698533.
- Pendle: Pendle
Heritage Centre, Park Hall, Colne Road,
Barrowford, BB9 6JQ. Tel: 01282 661701.
- Preston: The
Bus Station, Tithebarn Street, Tel: 01772 556618.
- Rawtenstall:
41/45 Kay Street. Tel: 01706 244678.
- Rossendale: 41/45
Kay Street, Tel: 01706 213677.
- Settle: Town
Hall, Cheapside. Tel: 01729 825192.
- Skipton: 35 Coach
Street, Skipton. Tel: 01756 792809.
- Southport: 112
Lord Street. Tel: 01704 533333.
See Also:
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