Industrialisation

This is the term used to describe the shift form an economy dominated by agricultural activity to one based upon manufacturing.

From the 13th century onward the the lower slopes of the Pennine valleys were being cleared to accommodate the expanding population of West Yorkshire. Where bridges crossed the rivers,or water powered mills were built, settlements developed. The difficult terrain and outbreaks of disease slowed the growth of manufacturing in the Aire, Calder, Holme and Colne valleys but by the 15th century a more sustained development of the economy was taking place. This brought together the local agriculture, mainly restricted to sheep farming, with textile production. The latter was most often a cottage industry with spinning and weaving done in the home.

During the 18th century the domestic woollen industry expanded and the worsted textile industry emerged. The clean, upland rivers provided a source of power as well as being used for washing the wool. As technology improved so more and more spinning and carding mills were built. By clustering the labour in factories production became more efficient and profits higher. By the first half of the nineteenth century the landscape of the upper river valleys around Halifax and Huddersfield were transformed. The mills moved to using steam power using local supplies of coal. They expanded drawing the workforce down from the isolated farming villages into valley bottom settlements. Cities, like Bradford grew rapidly. The mills became surrounded by poor quality terraced housing hurriedly built for the workforce.

Whilst the mill and mine owners made huge profits and lived in great wealth the social and physical environment of West Yorkshire became severely damaged by industrialisation. Other industries grew up around the textile mills and coal mines. These included engineering works and chemical industries, particularly those associated with the production of dyes. The transport infrastructure was developed through the building of canals, railways and roads.

This expansion caused the air to become polluted with coal smoke, rivers to be contaminated with sewage and chemical pollution. The poor living conditions led to ill health and the spread of the diseases associated with poverty. Bad working conditions resulted in accidents and long hours of hard work were enforced by harsh management regimes.

This dreadful urban-industrial experience led to social and environmental reforms . A combination of pressure from workers, such as the Luddites, and social reformers like the Chartists, created a climate of change. Industrialists began to take a pride in their towns and invested huge somes of money in the Victorian town centres as well as the sewage systems that carried waste away from the housing areas.

By 1900 much of the urban-industrial landscape was established. Industrialisation had transformed a rural landscape into one characterised by the mill towns with their Victorian town halls, stone terraces and multistorey mills.