From Farmer to Factory Owner Models, Methodology and Industrialisation; Archaeological Approaches to the Industrial Revolution in North West England
Full details
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | Archaeology North West |
| Year of publication | 2003 Vol 6 (Issue 16, for 2001-3) |
| Languages | |
| Medium | Digital Note: Copyright restrictions mean the attachment below only contains part of the publication. The full document is available for inspection at the Mills Archive Research and Education Centre. |
| Edition | 1 |
| Topics | |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Excerpt from the Preface: This volume helps provide a context for the major changes which are seen in Liverpool and Manchester/Salford and vice versa. The papers allow changes and expansion in Manchester in the 17th and 18th centuries to be readily contrasted with the development of the manufacturing base on the Lancashire-Westmoreland border or with declining settlements in east Lancashire. The social structures underlying industrialisation in Tameside or Furness are described and it is possible to look at the nature of the physical remains in rural settings such as the Castleshaw and Piethorne valleys in the Pennines or in urban settings such as Chester. Specific industrial processes such as textile finishing are also discussed. The studies presented here, while wide-ranging, cannot be comprehensive. They do, however, emphasise the importance of not considering the major industrial urban settlements in isolation. The contemporary changes in smaller urban areas and the countryside are important both in their own right and for our wider understanding. Across the volume, the focus of attention shifts from specific technological developments to social changes; from individual buildings to entire landscapes. Each shift raises problems of approach, of methodology and philosophy. The introductory chapters help the reader to chart this emerging archaeological territory but the sheer diversity of subject matter, of emphasis and approach only becomes clear as the reader progresses. This helps emphasise the excitement of moving in previously uncharted waters. This volume is thus important not only in revealing the detail of particular places and their changing nature, but in giving an opportunity to see the gradual development of a discipline. |