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Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment

Chapter 7

The Industrial and Modern Period Resource Assessment

by Robina McNeil and Richard Newman

With contributions by Mark Brennand, Eleanor Casella, Bernard Champness, CBA North West Industrial Archaeology Panel, David Cranstone, Peter Davey, Chris Dunn, Andrew Fielding, David George, Elizabeth Huckerby, Christine Longworth, Ian Miller, Mike Morris, Michael Nevell, Caron Newman, North West Medieval Pottery Research Group, Sue Stallibrass, Ruth Hurst Vose, Kevin Wilde, Ian Whyte and Sarah Woodcock.

Introduction Implicit in any archaeological study of this period is the need to balance the archaeological investigation The cultural developments of the 16th and 17th centu- of material culture with many other disciplines that ries laid the foundations for the radical changes to bear on our understanding of the recent past. The society and the environment that commenced in the wealth of archive and documentary sources available 18th century. The world’s first for constructing historical narratives in the Post- produced unprecedented social and environmental Medieval period offer rich opportunities for cross- change and North West was at the epicentre disciplinary working. At the same time historical ar- of the resultant transformation. Foremost amongst chaeology is increasingly in the foreground of new these changes was a radical development of the com- theoretical approaches (Nevell 2006) that bring to- munications infrastructure, including wholly new gether economic and sociological analysis, anthropol- forms of transportation (Fig 7.1), the growth of exist- ogy and geography. ing manufacturing and trading towns and the crea- tion of new ones. The period saw the emergence of Environment Liverpool as an international port and trading me- tropolis, while grew as a powerhouse for The 18th to 20th centuries witnessed widespread innovation in production, manufacture and transpor- changes within the landscape of the North West, and tation. The cultural impact of industrialisation was most of the region was affected in some way by de- not confined to technological and infrastructural velopments in agricultural practice, land management change and the growth of industrial and commercial and increased industrialisation. The physical appear- towns. It also produced specialisation in farming, ance of the landscape was transformed as pro- greater land reclamation, the growth of leisure towns grammes of land reclamation, enclosure, woodland and an unprecedented plethora of manufactured removal and planting were undertaken, and the urban goods both fuelling and meeting the demand of ris- centres underwent dramatic growth. Environmental ing consumption (Barker & Cranstone 2004; New- degradation caused by industrial activity increased man 2001). Above all industrial economies trans- throughout the period. formed a rural society into an urban one with more The final phase of the Little Ice Age in the 18th and people in the North West living in towns than in the first half of the 19th century was less cool but seems countryside by the later 19th century. The wider im- to have been distinctly wetter. Coastal erosion ap- pact of industrialisation in transforming traditional pears to have been especially destructive during this communities and customary practices as well as the period with increased storminess, and several settle- industrialisation of the countryside and changing re- ments around Morecambe Bay are considered to lationships between rural and urban communities are have been lost to the sea at this time. Optical Stimu- key themes for the period (Walker & Nevell 2003; lated Luminescence dating of deposits on the Nevell & Walker 2004a; Newman 2004). Formby foreshore in Merseyside have revealed a ma-

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Fig 7.1 Northwich Viaduct, opened in 1869, crossing the Rivers Dane and the Weaver Navigation ( County Council). jor erosion event in the 18th century when surface ties from the 1820s and by the intensification of deposits were removed to reveal underlying sedi- drainage to improve agricultural land. ments (Pye et al 1995). The period was also character- ised by some massive flash floods in upland catch- Agriculture ments and has been studied in detail for the North Pennines and the Howgills (Harvey et al 1981; Har- Previous reviews of archaeology and its research vey & Chiverrell 2004), but little work has been car- agenda in parts of the North West have not exam- ried out in the Lake District. This period also saw the ined the potential of the 18th and 19th centuries be- peak of lead mining and other extractive activities in yond the realm of industrial archaeology. The Archae- the northern uplands, leading to a variety of associ- ology of (R Newman 1996b) exemplifies this ated problem. These included valley infill with min- approach. A review of the archaeology of northern ing waste; floods due to the bursting of dams provid- England (Brooks et al 2002), which included Cum- ing water for power and washing minerals; damage to bria, similarly gave no consideration of the 18th cen- lowland pastures and the poisoning of livestock and tury and later beyond the realm of industrial archae- fish by the process of hushing; and the deposition of ology (Linsley 2002). Yet agricultural change was material with high heavy metal content in surround- both a driver behind the rise of an industrial society ing lowland areas. The sequence and amount of pol- and subsequently was driven by industrialisation. In lution from the growth of industrial processes can be recent years significant programmes of work have ascertained through analysis of river silts and upland been undertaken in the North West that have exam- peats but, as yet, such studies have largely been un- ined some of the processes of agrarian landscape dertaken outside the region (Macklin et al 1992; change in the 18th to 19th centuries especially. These Coulthard & Macklin 2001; Mighall et al in press). have included the English Heritage sponsored North Watercourse pollution from human sewage and other West Wetlands Survey, which catalogued the history organic waste products became increasingly signifi- of wetland reclamation in the period and Whyte’s cant in urban areas during the 19th century, with con- recent review of parliamentary enclosure in the re- sequences for human health. gion (2003). During the period, rivers were heavily canalised In the 18th and 19th centuries one of the greatest and new water courses were created, affecting the forces for landscape change in the countryside was nature of alluviation and sedimentation in river val- parliamentary enclosure. In the North West this oc- leys and estuaries. These were further affected by the curred from the 1750s until the end of the 19th cen- construction of reservoirs to serve urban communi- tury. Some 483,000 acres were affected in the region,

166 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment about 80% of which were in (Whyte 2003). local variation according to scale and terrain. The The impact of parliamentary enclosure has been fields are often large, regular, and square or rectangu- mapped in Cumbria and to a lesser extent in Lanca- lar where possible. Field boundaries, within a speci- shire (Ede with Darlington 2002) as part of those fied enclosure area, are of a markedly uniform char- counties’ HLCs. Unlike midland and southern Eng- acter whether walls (Fig 7.3) or hedges, with few land, most of the land enclosed by Act of Parliament hedgerow trees but some substantial plantations, of- in the North West was rough pasture held as com- ten to provide shelter belts. Access roads are straight, mon grazing between manorial tenants. In Cheshire though sometimes with sharp right-angled bends, the only example of parliamentary enclosure of open and often very wide. Characteristic features include fields was 126 acres enclosed at St Mary’s on the Hill public quarries for walling and constructing roads, in 1805-7 (Phillips 2002a, 54). Aside from upland public limekilns, culverts and bridges, watering places pasture, much of the land affected by parliamentary for cattle, and turbaries for peat cutting and in one enclosure in the region was lowland common pasture instance at Hutton Roof (C), a public coal mine (I as in the central Eden Valley (C) or peat moss as in Whyte pers comm). Though comparatively well the Fylde (L) and the Lyth Valley (C). Some of this documented, and an important and widespread fea- completed earlier processes of reclamation as in Con- ture of our upland and lowland marginal landscapes, gleton Moss (Ch) (Leah et al 1997, 156). In the Fylde the apparent homogeneity of landscapes of parlia- too parliamentary enclosure was only one element in mentary enclosure is deceptive. The transformation the reclamation of the mosslands, and its characteris- of upland and marginal landscapes did not necessar- tic landscapes are often very similar to those pro- ily obliterate all traces of earlier land use and their duced by enclosure and reclamation brought about uniformity at a broad level hides great diversity at a without recourse to an Act of Parliament (Middleton local level for example in wall and hedge construc- 1995; Ede with Darlington 2002, 106-112). The larg- tion between different enclosure areas. Such land- est single area of parliamentary enclosure in Cheshire scapes are starting to show their age and are now at was of the former Delamere Forest, where 7652 risk from changes in agricultural regime. acres were divided between claimants in 1819 Aside from parliamentary enclosure and wetland (Phillips 2002a, 54). reclamation, (Fig 7.2) perhaps the greatest impact on Parliamentary enclosure landscapes in the North the rural landscape during the Post-Medieval period West, especially in the uplands, are distinguished by a in the North West was the creation of new and the number of common physical characteristics, with extension of existing woodland areas. From the 18th Fig 7.3 Enclosed fellside at Red Screes, Cumbria (Tom Huckerby).

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 167 The Archaeology of North West England century onwards, however, large-scale tree planting fore conversion, and the farm building recording took place, firstly on the country estates of wealthy begun by Cumbria County Council in 2002, are landowners and then in the forestry plantations of forming a useful corpus of case studies. the 20th century, helping to form the mixed farming, Designed landscapes were often associated with woodland, and moorland landscapes of the present model farms and other forms of agricultural innova- day. The landscapes of the Lake District exemplify tion and improvement, as has been indicated at Tat- the manipulation of ‘natural’ scenery for the pur- ton (Ch) (Higham et al 2002) and this relationship poses of creating picturesque views using ornamental needs further exploration. Another area worthy of planting of larch and other species from the mid-18th examination is the role of country estates as investors century and for commercial forestry from the 1920s. in technology. For example, Dunham Massey (Ch) Research by the National Trust, as at Tarn Haws and had a sawmill and Lyme Park (Ch) a range of laundry Monk Coniston (C), and by the Forestry Commis- and electricity generating buildings (M Palmer pers sion in the ‘Veteran trees’ recording project, has be- comm). As at Tatton most studies of designed land- gun to look at the longevity and archaeology of scapes, including the many unpublished studies by planting regimes. the National Trust, have been based on the docu- Another area of significant regional research has mentary record and the surface examination of earth- been in the examination of farmsteads through build- works. At Lyme Park, and at Rufford New Hall (L), ing survey. The former Royal Commission on His- survey work demonstrated that 18th century design toric Monuments’ sample survey of farmsteads dat- plans were not rigorously implemented, but adapted ing between 1750 and 1914 used central Cheshire as to suit available resources, topography and the needs one of its sample areas. This revealed something of of the users (LUAU 1996d; Egerton Lea 2002d). Re- the patterning of regional diversity and highlighted cent limited excavations of a small area of landscaped the lack of surviving upstanding buildings which pre- grounds at Hayton, near (CFA 2003b) and date the mid-18th century (Barnwell & Giles 1997, the work undertaken at Ambleside (Potter & Quar- 146). Much of the surviving fabric in the region dates termaine 1999) have shown how useful excavated to the late 18th and 19th centuries and includes excel- data can be for interpreting the development of 19th lent examples of industrialised model farmsteads (Fig century gardens. 7.4), such as those built by the Senhouse family near Maryport (C). In Cumbria a thematic survey was un- Rural Settlement dertaken for English Heritage (Wade Martin 1999), and the county benefits from the pioneering work of Despite settlement development as a result of indus- Brunskill (2002), but such work is lacking elsewhere trialisation, Yates’ map of Lancashire, like the con- in the region. Conversion of farm buildings as they temporary county maps for Cheshire, cease to have a viable agricultural function is a cause and Westmorland, still depicted large areas of unen- of concern and some record survey has taken place closed moorland and mossland in the late 18th cen- through the use of planning conditions. Whilst many tury, but these too had been swept away by parlia- of the recording projects lack in-depth analysis of the mentary enclosure by the mid-19th century. This was buildings, and are reported only within the ‘grey lit- another factor which helped to emphasise the dis- erature’, the records produced are capable of being persed nature of much of the regional settlement used for synthesis. Programmes of survey, such as pattern. Where allotments were large, new farmsteads Lancashire County Council’s recording of barns be- were sometimes erected. The creation of new iso- lated farms in the late 18th and early 19th century is a Fig 7.2 Scarisbrick, Martin Mere, Lancashire, showing the feature of both the reclaimed and enclosed wetlands, loss of peat through reclamation and ploughing (Sue Stalli- as in the Lancashire Fylde, and of the enclosed and brass). improved uplands, as at Skelton (C), where 13 new farms were created following the enclosure of 1769 (Whyte 2003, 82). In parts of and in east Lancashire farm numbers increased dur- ing the period. In the area they rose from 143 to 273 between 1700 and 1850 (Nevell 1993, 80- 95). In Greater Manchester and Lancashire the spread of handloom led to the growth of folds in the 18th century, where farm buildings were leased or sold for conversion into cottages and in some cases into loomshops. These are a characteristic settlement type of upland areas, many now subsumed by urban expansion, though still recognisable in suburbs and

168 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment on urban fringes. Most have been heavily modern- ised, but 17th and 18th century buildings often survive in them. There has been little detailed recording work undertaken, though Rothwell’s industrial heritage surveys (1979a; 1979b; 1979c; 1980a; 1980b; 1981; 1985; 1990) have catalogued some of them. In parts of Greater Manchester the impact of industrialisation on settlement development set within its social con- text has been examined in Tameside by Nevell and Walker (1998; 1999; 2004). Industrialisation within rural areas led to the rise of equally busy but different landscapes away from Manchester and east Lanca- shire. On Alston Moor (C) the allotting of the mining rights in 1735 was an impetus to rapid population growth (Hey 2000, 205). Smallholdings were viable because of bi-employment in the lead mines and to a Fig 7.4 Home Farm at Burton in Kendal, Cumbria, a model lesser extent collieries. Farm buildings were con- farm built in the later 19th century (Richard Newman). verted into workers’ cottages, small lean-to cabins were built against barns and byres and new farm Both enclosure and industrialisation not only cre- buildings were erected with upper floor domestic ated new settlements but in some cases had a de- accommodation. These so called farmer-miner land- populating effect on existing settlements. Indeed, in scapes and their buildings characterise much of the the North West many of the presumed Medieval set- northern Yorkshire Dales and the north Pennines tlement earthworks appear to be the result of Post- but have been little studied archaeologically within Medieval settlement shrinkage, as has been noted for the regional boundary particularly in the south. other areas like the East Riding of Yorkshire (Neave The region did not only experience an increase in 1993). Enclosure is well known to have depopulated dispersed settlement and the growth of farmsteads some nucleated settlements as farms were moved into hamlets, but saw the creation of entirely new away to be surrounded by their enclosed fields. In rural communities, usually related to some form of Cartmel parish (C) enclosure of the wastes is claimed industrial activity. These varied in nature from pur- to have depopulated townships through its adverse pose-built colonies, such as Abbeystead (L) or Styal impact on smallholders and cottagers (Whyte 2003, Mill (Ch), paid for by industrialists (Timmins 2000), 91). A more likely factor in widespread rural depopu- to small hamlets developed over successive genera- lation, however, was farm amalgamation and the mi- tions such as Galgate near Lancaster (White 2003; gration of population away from farming areas to Newman 2004), or individual rows of cottages such industrial areas. This is highlighted in Darlington’s as those found associated with coal mining in the examination of some deserted or shrunken settle- north Pennines (Harris 1974). Many of these settle- ments in Lancashire, which is primarily based on ments were small and situated in previously sparsely documentary sources (2003). At Stock the shrinkage settled, marginal areas. of the nucleated settlement in the early 19th century The excavation project centred on Hagg Cottages, seems to have been occasioned by the growth of Alderley Edge (Ch), is probably unique to the region weaving and consequent settlement expansion in the at present (Casella 2005) in posing questions about nearby town of Barnoldswick (Darlington 2003, 80- the historical archaeology of a rural hamlet. The Cot- 1). Another example of rural depopulation possibly tages were built during the 1740s near the site of the caused by the attraction of industrial work elsewhere Alderley Edge copper and lead mines, and were oc- may have been the excavated toft at Church Brough cupied by the Alderley Edge Mining Company’s (C), which was probably deserted in the late 18th cen- workers in the late 19th century, and were subse- tury (Jones 1989). Other factors which led to the quently demolished in the 1950s. The excavation Post-Medieval desertion or shrinkage of settlements revealed a number of floor surfaces used in the cot- include late 18th and early 19th century emparking as tages from sandstone flagging through to linoleum. at Rufford (L) and Tatton (Ch), and the failure of One of the cottages went through a series of altera- some farms which colonised the upland waste fol- tions, adaptations and re-orientation which reflected lowing parliamentary enclosure (Whyte 2003, 84). At the changing social and economic status of its occu- Haslingden Grane (L) the hamlet was gradually aban- pants during the period of the Industrial Revolution. doned in the later 19th and early 20th centuries follow- Analysis of the recovered ceramics, building materi- ing the flooding of its farmlands for reservoirs, and als, glass, clay tobacco pipes, metals, coins, plastics, the requirement to remove cattle from water catch- slag and charcoal, and leather, bone and floor ment areas (Darlington 2003). coverings is ongoing. The water-gathering grounds for the various cor-

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Fig 7.5 Cellar loomshops at Mile End, , Lancashire (Egerton Lea). poration water boards were systematically cleared of previously not permanently or only lightly settled, settlement in the early 20th century in the Forest of whilst causing settlement shrinkage in already settled Bowland (LUAU 1997g), and the areas. Consequently, the rural landscape had a greater Valley (L). A similar fate befell settlements in parts of degree of dispersion in the later 19th century than it the Lake District, notably for the impounding did in the early 18th century. During the 18th and 19th schemes at Thirlmere (1890-04) and Haweswater centuries in the wetlands new farms appeared in pre- (1929-36) where the remains of the village of Mardale viously uncultivated areas, while the uplands experi- Green, submerged in 1935, are still visible at times of enced new settlement genesis, growth and abandon- low water level. At Holcombe Moor (GM) the farms ment. against the head dyke wall were abandoned in the early 20th century as a result of the Government’s The Urban Landscape acquisition of the Holcombe valley and part of the Moor as a military training area (Egerton Lea 2001a). The later 18th to 20th centuries witnessed radical Watergrove in Greater Manchester was likewise de- changes in urban settlement that were unprecedented populated in the 1930s and preserved datestones in scale and speed of transformation. Yet surprisingly ranging from 1699 to 1778 were built into the reser- this phenomenon of urbanisation and industrialisa- voir storm wall. Archaeological excavations in the tion has been little studied from an archaeological 1990s of the farmsteads, one of which dated back to perspective. Archaeological approaches used in the the Medieval period, led to a pioneering survey of researching of Roman and Medieval urbanism can relict industrial landscapes (GMAU 1990). The con- bring new interpretations to industrial period urban struction of the reservoirs also created new tempo- histories and may present new insights in the exami- rary settlements in the form of navvy camps, usually nation of the material culture of well-documented self-contained settlements equipped with their own 18th to 20th century urban contexts. The North West shops, pubs and even cinemas (Morris 1994). is taking the lead on the study of the urban archae- Overall, industrialisation and enclosure encouraged ology between 1700 and 1914 especially (Nevell the growth of dispersed settlement patterns in areas 2006), and a number of new research directions are

170 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment being pioneered which look at the archaeology of the centres such as Altrincham and Nantwich. The pe- new towns of the Industrial Revolution. riod also saw the establishment of new types of ur- The Extensive Urban Survey (EUS) projects have ban settlement, often focused on one industry. Thus, revealed considerable elements of similarity and con- Birkenhead grew up around ship building, , tinuity in 18th and 19th century towns in the region, Hyde and became new manufacturing towns whilst at the same time revealing distinctiveness in of the industry, Crewe grew around the rail- individual and groups of towns that is specific in time way industry and Barrow around iron. In addition and to location. By the end of the 19th century there resort towns like Blackpool, Morecambe (Wade nd a) was a great variety in urban development which is and Southport developed to meet the leisure de- reflected archaeologically in the standing buildings mands of the growing population of industrial work- and street patterns of these settlements. All the urban ers. centres of the 17th century saw growth in terms of Trinder (2002) has shown that market towns did physical area and population during this period. not suddenly become industrial towns, but had lega- However, there emerged a clear ranking within the cies from the past and continuing functions in the region. At the top were those settlements that ex- industrial period that differentiated them from the panded to become cities of national and international largest villages in their hinterlands. Features included importance, such as Liverpool and Manchester. Be- the possession of trading rights, with the market low these were the provincial centres of Chester and place being the physical representation of these, and Preston, followed by the industrial and market cen- the continuation of small scale craft industries. Many tres such as Blackburn, Carlisle, Kendal, Lancaster, of these did not require specialist premises whilst Stockport and . Liverpool and Manchester others, like tanning and brewing did, but were not each developed a series of ancillary satellite industrial new institutions. Thus, market towns in the 18th and towns such as St Helens and Widnes, and Ashton- 19th centuries epitomise continuity in the industrial under-Lyne, and and dormitory period and Garstang (L) is a typical example of such suburbs such as Sale. Below these were local market a town. Trinder’s approach to market towns can be

Fig 7.6 Early cellar dwellings under excavation at Piccadilly, Manchester (OA North).

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loom weavers’ cottages epitomise proto-industrial society. A topographical study of the Northern Quar- ter in Manchester has shown how urban areas devel- oped in the 18th century in response to industrial de- velopment, often at a cottage industry level (McNeil & Nevell 2000; English Heritage 2003; Nevell 2005b). The quarter consists of a mix of domestic, commercial and industrial buildings including mid- dle-class and workers housing, cellar dwellings (Fig 7.6), loomshops, and small factories, dat- ing from the 18th century through to the 20th century. This survival of topography, streetscape and build- ings, which is repeated in a number of urban areas throughout the North West, is both nationally rare Fig 7.7 Excavations of the late 19th century boiler house at and vulnerable. Conservation-based research is es- Murray’s Mill, Manchester (GMAU). sential to protect this fragile resource. In the 200 years following the late 17th century, applied, as he has suggested, to other types of urban towns underwent many complex and interrelated settlement in the North West, and has been success- changes, creating a variety of transformations in their fully used by Matthews in Chester (2003). There the size, physical form, economic role and political, so- mixture of the domestic and the industrial, often at a cial and cultural significance. These did not all hap- small scale, has been examined. From this Matthews pen together and there was considerable intra- has proposed a study of the urban fabric of the 19th regional variation in both the timing and process of and 20th century town through the interpretive me- change. One of the most important factors, however, dium of the archaeology of work (2003) which brings was accessibility through communications networks. a much needed human dimension to the study of The planned new towns of the 19th century like Bar- urban material remains. row, Fleetwood and Morecambe (Wade nd a) were During the 19th century more people came to live established because of their coastal location and po- and work in towns than in the countryside. Already tential for the development of port facilities. In a in 1801 45% of historic Lancashire’s population lived period when water was the only viable means of and worked in the towns, and 24% lived in just two transporting large bulk cargoes, access to it was a urban locations, Liverpool and Manchester. In the major factor in the stimulation of urban growth. This same year around 28% of Cheshire’s population was also led to the foundation of Port Carlisle, connected living in towns (Phillips & Smith 1994, 135-6). By the to its parent city by canal and later railway. As middle of the 19th century much of the North West Trinder has pointed out one of the common factors could be said to have become an urban-based manu- in all towns is that they were affected by develop- facturing society. This urbanisation process contin- ments in transport (2002). Thus, canals (Fig 7.8) and ued throughout the rest of the 19th century so that by railways and their associated features are key monu- 1891 almost 90% of Lancashire’s population was ment characteristics in the fabric of the industrial living in towns and cities, and 80% of Cheshire’s town and city. Nowhere was the impact of canals (Phillips & Phillips 2002, 44-5). This is reflected more significant in terms of urbanisation than in archaeologically in the physical growth of the towns Manchester. Canal building in Britain is marked at its of North West England and in the new urban infra- beginning and at its end by two major engineering structure and housing needed to maintain these works both from the Manchester area. In the 1760s greatly enlarged settlements. the heralded the birth of the in- dustrial canal and led to the development of a na- Proto-industrial Communities tional canal network, whilst the building of the Ship Canal in 1894 marked the final flourish of industrial- Proto-industrialised urban communities are recognis- ised water transport. able more through the general historic character of an area than by individual monument types. Conse- Manchester a Regional Metropolis quently, thematic and topographical studies have been particularly useful in identifying this urban The completion of the Bridgewater Canal in 1765 form. Studies such as those of Timmins (1977) look- enabled Manchester to develop as an inland port and ing at handloom weavers’ colonies (Fig 7.5) have provided it with improved access to raw materials been especially useful as these formed important ar- and outlets for its products. The first major arterial eas of distinctive 18th century growth in many of the canal, crossing valleys with the aid of aqueducts, cut- towns of Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Hand- tings, embankments and tunnels, the Bridgewater

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Fig 7.8 The canals network in the North West.

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Fig 7.9 The 1806 Dale Street , Manchester, built by the Rochdale Canal Company and the earliest surviving canal warehouse in the city (UMAU).

Canal was a significant engineering achievement and focus on building archaeology (McNeil, Nevell & has made an enduring impact on the landscape. The Redhead 2003). This stands in stark contrast to the Manchester terminus – the Basin which is relatively low level of archaeological response in characterised by its warehouses pierced by bargeholes other major industrial and commercial urban areas in for covered loading – was where trans-shipment was the North West. pioneered and became a model for canal building By the end of the 18th century, when the cotton across the country (Falconer 2002; Nevell & Walker trade expanded, Manchester emerged as the centre of 2001). The canal opened a new era of inland naviga- the first power-driven factory system and of the cot- tion and within a short period Manchester was a ton manufacturing industry in Britain. Little of this nodal point for a network of canals across England first industrial town survives, but the area around and Wales. Sixty years later, with the opening of the Kelvin Street, the modern Northern Quarter, with its Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, the three storey workshop dwellings built between 1750 North West had the first inter-city passenger railway. and 1800 for cotton spinners and weavers, has been a Manchester was thus at the centre of the transport focus for study (McNeil & Nevell 2000; Nevell revolutions of the late 18th and 19th centuries (Nevell 2005b). Such structures provide a physical link be- 2004). The urban expansion this facilitated can be tween the early woollen and town and the later readily traced on 18th and 19th century maps. Man- cotton spinning city. An important element of this chester was known by contemporaries as first manufacturing town was textile , ‘Cottonopolis’ and has also been described as a of which there were 18 enterprises by 1800, making ‘citadel to commerce’. Its architectural legacy from the town the largest textile finishing centre in Britain. this period exemplifies the exceptional scale, ingenu- Why and how this activity moved from London to ity and enterprise of the era. A recent assessment of the North West has yet to be studied, nor have any the City of Manchester’s Post-Medieval and Indus- of these sites been investigated archaeologically. trial archaeology illustrates the concentration of sur- The mill complexes of (Fig 7.7) provide a vey and investigation on its history of urbanisation spectacular illustration of urban industrial architec- and industrialisation. Over 140 ‘grey literature’ re- ture in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Ancoats ports, of which 95 are building survey reports reflect was laid out as part of a planned expansion of Man- both the level of response to the impact of change chester in anticipation of the arrival of the Rochdale on the City’s Post-Medieval fabric and the necessary canal (Fig 7.9), and contains a notable grouping of

174 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment early mills, whose architecture, design, fireproofing, streetscape and make it unlike any other city in Eng- innovations and improvements in processes span the land. As early as 1806 there were 1182 warehouse Industrial Revolution (Williams with Farnie 1992). units, and by 1815 there were 1819. The commercial The development of Ancoats as a steam-powered quarter, ‘warehouse city’, with its fine collection of mixed industrial suburb is the subject of a recent in- buildings based on Renaissance palaces occupies a vestigation of part of the route of the Rochdale Ca- square mile of the modern city. At first these were nal. Survey and excavation has examined canal ar- concentrated around King Street but by 1850 they rangements, Murray’s Mills and two glass production had spread to Portland Street and by the early 20th sites, revealing the influence of changing technology century to Whitworth Street. Notable buildings in- on industrial organization within an urban area (I clude the range of warehouses along Charlotte Street, Miller pers comm). those of Princess Streets, Watts warehouse, and the In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was appropriately imperial-scale packing warehouses of built, terminating at Liverpool Road Station. This has Whitworth Street. This is arguably the finest expres- the distinction of being the oldest surviving railway sion of a Victorian commercial centre in Britain station in the world, which pioneered separate facili- (McNeil & George 1997; Hartwell 2001; English ties for different classes of passenger. The terminus Heritage 2002b). includes the impressive 1830 warehouse, which was has been recorded archaeologically (Greene 1995), The Manufacturing Towns revealing how the warehouse was influenced in its design by earlier canal warehousing (Nevell & Walker In Cheshire, canals facilitated the development of a 2001). As the railway network around the city devel- chemicals industry leading to the growth of the new oped and the cotton mills expanded, so Manchester industrial towns of Runcorn, Widnes and Winsford. became a centre of engineering (McNeil, Nevell & Elsewhere in later 18th century Cheshire the growth Redhead 2003). Large numbers of foundries and en- of early factory-based textile production led to the gineering firms were created and examples can still expansion of Congleton, Macclesfield, Sandbach and be found in surrounding districts such as Gorton, Warrington. Other than the Cheshire EUS, archaeo- Newton Heath and Openshaw. logical examination of these towns has been limited Manchester’s dominance as a financial and com- with the most important contribution being the for- mercial centre in the second half of the 19th century mer RCHME survey of east Cheshire’s textile mills is reflected in its imposing commercial and civic ar- (Calladine & Fricker 1993). chitecture (Hartwell 2001) but it is its textile ware- From the late 18th century onwards, the growth of houses that provide the distinctive element in its the cotton industry in Greater Manchester and east-

Fig 7.10 Weir mill, a late 18th and early 19th century on the River Mersey in Stockport (GMAU).

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Fig 7.11 The railway network in the North West.

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Fig 7.12 Excavation of 19th-century housing at the Bars, Chester (Earthworks Archaeology). ern Lancashire led to the rapid growth and develop- (Morgan 1998), there has been some limited standing ment of some existing towns such as Ashton-under- building survey. English Heritage carried out a survey Lyne, Blackburn, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and Stock- of textile mills in Pendle district (Taylor 2000) and a port (Fig 7.10). Yates’ county map of old Lancashire number of more detailed individual mill surveys were (1786) shows these new manufacturing towns and completed by RCHME in Nelson. the burgeoning cities of Manchester and . Ur- Other than Ashmore’s study of Low Moor (a mill ban development was limited away from Manchester, hamlet to the west of Clitheroe), the only significant however, until the arrival of the railway in the mid- archaeological study of a single community’s built 19th century (Fig 7.11). This led to the development character in Lancashire has been English Heritage’s of new towns, such as Accrington, Bacup and Nel- study of Nelson (Wray 2001). This latter review is son. especially important as it is the only detailed study of The majority of Lancashire’s new towns in the 19th one of the most significant characteristics of these century developed organically from existing non- towns, the later 19th century terraced house. The first urban or proto-urban centres as at Burnley (Egerton detailed below-ground investigation of 19th century Lea 2002e). The railway not only stimulated industry, living conditions in the North West has been in especially textiles weaving and engineering, which led Chester (Fig 7.11), where Matthews’ excavation of a to urban growth, but also stimulated the develop- mid-19th century court stands as a seminal example ment of towns that were reliant on the railway as of archaeological research into lower-class urban their principal industry, the most notable example of housing. which is Crewe (Crosby 1996, 16). In Greater Manchester the outline development of As in Cheshire, apart from the EUS, archaeological the growth of the manufacturing towns has been work on industrial towns in Lancashire has been lim- discussed by the pioneering work of Douglas Farnie ited, although the industrial fabric of many of east (1979) and later in works on Stockport (Arrowsmith Lancashire’s towns has been identified and cata- 1997), Saddleworth (Smith 1987) and notably Tame- logued in Rothwell’s useful gazetteers (1979a; 1979b; side (Nevell & Walker 1998; 1999; 2001; 2004b). Re- 1979c; 1980a; 1980b; 1981; 1985; 1990). Below- cent fieldwork has seen the first detailed excavation ground archaeological interventions have occurred of part of Manchester’s 18th and 19th century urban only in Blackburn and Preston. In addition to Tim- landscape around Hardman Street (UMAU 2005a) mins’ work on handloom weavers’ cottages and some and a study of the late textile village at Carrbrook in detailed case studies such as in Atherton (GM) Tameside (Nevell with Grimsditch & King 2006).

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Yet a detailed research programme which looks at the urban development of the cotton towns of Greater Manchester is long overdue. Similarly, apart from largely social histories such as that for Cleator Moor (Marshall 1978), Harris’ study of the development of Millom (Harris 1966), archi- tectural studies in Barrow (Roberts 1977) and the recent excavation of part of its ironworks, no survey work has been carried out on 19th century urban fab- ric and the development of the manufacturing towns of west Cumbria. The 19th century towns produced a series of new monument types, many of which were associated with the development of areas of terraced housing laid out on a grid. The corner shop and urban public house are two distinctive new types of feature in the urban fabric. Fig 7.13 North Euston Hotel, Fleetwood, Lancashire Public houses often exhibited particular architectural (Egerton Lea). characteristics distinctive of individual towns. A comparison of late 19th century public houses in Manchester from 1847. Abbey became the Manchester and Liverpool noted the smaller size of first heritage attraction in Britain, possibly in Europe, Manchester’s surviving public houses because most to have its own railway station (Marshall & Walton of them originated as beer houses (Mutch 2003). 1981). Some coastal resorts, like Blackpool, grew in In the coastal resorts, especially in Blackpool, early an unplanned manner; others like St Annes and hotels were established and in the 19th century an Morecambe were planned. entirely new building type, the boarding house, devel- Fleetwood is the region’s finest example of a oped with its own distinctive architectural style planned seaside town (Fig 7.13). Developed in the (Egerton Lea 2003a). 1830s by the lord of the manor, Peter Hesketh Fleet- The railway hotel was another new archaeological wood, it was intended to enrich him through its de- monument associated with railways and urban velopment as a tourist resort and port. Instead it al- growth. A notably good example is the North Eus- most bankrupted him but not before his architect, ton Hotel in Fleetwood (Fig 7.13), further good ex- Decimus Burton, had laid out the foundations of a amples of this genre can be found at Chester and planned town on classical lines complete with an Manchester and as individual examples in towns like abundance of Grecian-style architecture (Egerton Carnforth. Lea 2002b). An important type-site for the late devel- The impact of railways on urban fabric is an area of opment of classical architecture and as an example of fruitful research (Gwyn 2002), as in Blackburn where early 19th century urban planning, Fleetwood still the arrival of the railway caused a wholesale replan- lacks a detailed analysis of its development and only ning of the town centre (LUAU 1999c). limited work has been undertaken to record and document its earliest buildings. Railways and Resorts Beyond those studied in the Lancashire EUS the other seaside resorts have been little examined The growth of industrial towns led to the develop- archaeologically, though the pier at Southport was ment of minor coastal resorts into seaside towns the subject of recording (LUAU 2000b) and Black- (Newman 2001, 160). It was impossible for these pool is being considered as a potential World Heri- resorts to grow into urban centres, however, until the tage Site (Walton & Wood 2006). arrival of the railways facilitated the advent of mass Yet the resorts featured entirely new monument tourism. classes like piers, bazaars, the coastal promenade and In some cases, such as Morecambe West End, the new forms of pleasure grounds. Blackpool Pleasure railway companies were speculative developers Beach preserves classic examples of the earliest pleas- within the town (Egerton Lea 2004a; Wade nd b). In ure rides now surviving in Britain such as Maxim’s Cheshire, inland and coastal resorts like Knutsford, Flying Machine from 1904, Noah’s Ark, 1922 and Wilmslow, Parkgate and Neston would not have de- Emberton’s Grand National of 1935 (Bennett 1996). veloped as fashionable centres without railways link- These have only been recorded photographically. ing them to major conurbations. The coastal resorts continued to grow and thrive Similarly, Bowness-on- and Keswick throughout the inter-war years of the 20th century at (C) were transformed by rail and steamer links that a time when most of the manufacturing towns connected them with the populations of Barrow and slipped into depression and decline.

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Religion, Ritual and Ceremony neo-gothic which emphasised a traditional church form for a more traditional style of sacrament- Churches focused worship. The restoration of Nantwich parish church in 1861 By the later 18th century some new churches were removed the galleried layout of an 18th century audi- built in response to the beginning of industrial- tory church interior to replace it with a facsimile of a inspired urban growth, such as St John the Evangel- 14th century interior (Hyde 1997). The churches of ist (1789) and St Paul’s (1792) in the textile town of the North West are a product of the 19th century Blackburn (Egerton Lea 2001c). There was still a more than the Medieval period, yet this 19th century general lack of churches in the early 19th century church fabric has received scant attention from ar- when industrialisation and increasing populations chaeologists, either in relation to demolished or still exacerbated the inherent structural weakness of the standing buildings. There are some notable excep- parochial system (Green 2003, 19). The traditionally tions such as those built by the Lancaster-based ar- large parishes of the North West and rapid popula- chitectural practice of Sharpe, Paley and Austin tion growth created a vacuum which was filled by the (Price 1998). non-conformists. In response, an Act of Parliament in 1818 set up a Church Building Commission and Non-Conformist Chapels provided £1 million for new churches (Green 2003, 21). Thus, 97 churches were built between 1821 and From the mid-18th century, there was a large increase 1829, and of those that survive outside London, 33% in the number of non-conformist chapels (Fig 7.14), are in Greater Manchester or Lancashire. Commis- where radical teachings appealed to the growing sioners’ churches have only recently received a mod- populations of manufacturing workers, who were not ern dedicated study and English Heritage have identi- imbued with the views of their masters, the landed fied all surviving examples (Port 2006). Church build- estate owners (Stell 1994, xxi). Non-conformist sects ing and refurbishment was prolific throughout the quickly filled the need for new places of worship. As 19th and 20th centuries, especially in the growing ur- their confidence grew, the old, vernacular-style build- ban areas. Changes in architectural style were linked ings, often in the rear of building plots, were replaced to liturgical developments. For example classical ar- by classical-style structures on street frontages, char- chitecture, focused on the sermon, was replaced by acterised by symmetrical features. Consequently many of the older chapels have been lost. A remark- able survival is an early 18th century Presbyterian Fig 7.14 Jireh Chapel, Burnley, Lancashire (Egerton Lea). chapel in Carnforth which is now a garage, but is extremely vulnerable in its present situation and con- dition (Egerton Lea 2002c). Of these early chapels, only Goodshaw Baptist Chapel near has been investigated in any detail. Built in 1760, survey and excavation revealed many of the changes the chapel underwent over its 103 years as a place of worship (Brandon & Johnson 1986). Urban chapels tended to be larger and more osten- tatious than their rural counterparts. Not only was religious affiliation expressed through architectural style and design but so were community aspirations and social position (Lake et al 2001, 82). There are many surviving examples of such chapels, including Longholme Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Rawtenstall, adjacent to the smaller, older chapel which became a Sunday School (Catlow 1977, 33). The later chapel still dominates its surroundings. In Lancashire the existence of many of these chapels has been recorded in the EUS, though little attempt was made to tie physical fabric to surviving records. Many chapels have been demolished or converted and few have been recorded in advance of such events. Stell’s re- gional survey (1994), though useful, is highly selective and biased towards towns. A survey of chapels was completed for parts of Cumbria (Ryder 2000) but coverage elsewhere in the region is patchy.

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Fig 7.15 Warrington Town Hall, built in 1750 by Thomas Patten, using waste from his Warrington copper works as founda- tions (Cheshire County Council).

Religious Settlements churchyards ceased to be used for burial when they became full by the later 19th century. Many cemeter- Some settlements were established as planned colo- ies, especially in the old county of Lancashire, have nies of religious congregations. At Fairfield in flat, rectangular grave markers covering the entire Greater Manchester, the Moravians established a burial, the purpose of which was to prevent access to colony in 1785. A self-supporting settlement, it was the grave at a time when there was a great fear of designed to meet the material, intellectual and spiri- grave robbing. tual needs of its community. It is claimed to have Burnley parish church has a typical churchyard of been the largest settlement of its kind in Britain and this type. Prestwich churchyard (GM), has the full is characterised by its late Georgian restrained archi- range of the social and symbolic development of bur- tecture and its formal planned layout. The architec- ial memorials, with documented churchyard expan- ture of the Roman Catholic settlement at Stydd near sions and the burial of some of Manchester’s most is similarly impressive and also includes a notable worthies. Its memorials range from flat grave range of buildings designed to meet the needs of the covers to a mid-19th century, Italianate square sedi- Roman Catholic community. cule which was displayed at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Burial Monuments Secular Display There have been few systematic detailed archaeologi- cal analysis of burial monuments in the North-West The display of status, through either pageantry or of the type pioneered by Mytum (1999), though an fashion, and participation in ritual and ceremonial unpublished rural graveyard survey was undertaken events formed part of the everyday life of all classes in Cheshire. Only small numbers of individual graves in Post-Medieval society; though the nature of the have been examined, for example vault burials from activities and the cultural material varied across social Chorley and Eccles, Salford (UMAU 1995b) and ex- classes. The activities could be civic, communal, or cavation of graves at Barrow Church, Cheshire personal and private. The need for civic dignity in (UMAU 2002). Despite this, many cemeteries will towns was met by the establishment of corporations, have had some record made of burial monuments by the acquisition of regalia, and the construction of local enthusiasts, which would form a valuable if un- buildings for civil ceremonies (Fig 7.15). Liverpool quantified resource. adopted classical architecture on a massive scale, Some of the best surviving burial monuments oc- conveying not only civic pride but also a sense of its cur in urban parish churches, where, in contrast to role as an imperial city (Newman 2001, 147). In addi- rural churchyards, the 20th century practice of clear- tion to town halls, law courts and libraries, the newly ing old headstones did not take place. Many urban emerging towns of the industrial North West built

180 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment large enclosed market halls which are one of their Michael Winstanley who have examined many as- most important urban architectural legacies pects of these topics. (Winstanley 2000, 157). Beginning with St John’s Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside Market in Liverpool, built in 1822, the closed market have a huge concentration of standing buildings and hall was adopted in all the expanding industrial other features relating to 19th century working-class towns. The Corporation market hall in , (L), culture, including public houses, music halls, sports is a particularly fine example, built in 1882 instead of facilities and municipal parks. At Nelson (L), the a town hall (Schmiechen & Carls 1999, 262). These football stadium and cricket ground adjoined Victoria new commercial emporia were unlike 16th and 17th Park (Walton 2000, 281), forming an area devoted to century market halls, which were built to regulate an leisure pursuits and display activities. Much of the open market. These were built to house all traders fabric associated with leisure and recreation was and were the forerunners of the shopping mall. This short-lived and was replaced in response to changing fashion spread outside the industrial centres, and the fashions. Raikes Hall, Blackpool (L) is a good exam- foundations of a small mid-19th century example in ple, as its grounds underwent many changes of use Maryport, Cumbria were recently noted (NPH and emphasis during the 19th century. Much has been 2003b). lost without record, though Bolton Wanderers’ old In the 19th century, town centre stores and banks stadium at Park (L) was the subject of an exhibited architectural features and specialist layouts archaeological survey and forms part of a wider pio- which distinguished them from their 18th century neering study of these structures (Smith 2001). More predecessors. Earlier premises either formed part of recently English Heritage has reviewed the historic a house or shared in the traditions of vernacular ar- value of sports venues through a project based on chitecture (Winstanley 2000, 153), even in Chester, the Manchester area (Heritage Consultancy Services probably the first town in the region to develop spe- 2002; Chitty & Wood 2003). cialist shopping streets. Some 19th-century businesses did display perceived power and prestige, or branded Technology and Production a corporate identity, through architecture. This is true of some regional banks, and in late 19th century in- It has been stated that ‘if there is one archaeological dustrial towns, of the larger Co-operative Society topic in which England can claim to have interna- stores. Architecture was used as an expression of tional pre-eminence, it is the industrial archaeology moral values by both business and various religious groups in the same way, indeed there were some sig- Fig 7.16 Stoneware jar tops from Hardman Street, Manches- nificant crossovers between businesses and denomi- ter (UMAU). national affiliation. In the 19th century, especially, the links between the religious, political and commercial spheres of life were much more intimate than today and it is to be expected that they may have been ex- pressed through architecture. The Lancashire EUS has demonstrated the potential for research in these areas. Commercial prosperity, especially from the late 17th century onwards, increased the numbers of those with the wealth and time to pursue leisure activities. The two principal provincial centres of Chester and Preston developed areas set aside for leisure activi- ties, particularly for social interaction and display (Stobart 1998; Phillips & Smith 1994, 113). They ac- quired promenades, theatres and assembly rooms (Newman 2001, 157). Lancaster’s flowering as an important trading centre in the 18th century, and its subsequent decline, ensured it retained early struc- tures associated with middle-class leisure activities, such as Assembly Rooms and the Grand Theatre (Egerton Lea 2004b). These aspects of urban fabric were adopted by the new industrial towns in the 19th century, which also developed other facilities to ac- commodate the leisure needs of the masses. The re- gion has also benefited from the work of locally- based cultural historians such as John Walton and

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poorly comprehended body of data’ (Fletcher 1996, 157). Matters have improved in the past decade. Pro- fessional archaeologists, both in universities and commercial units, have engaged with the subject, in many cases working closely with local enthusiasts, as in Manchester (Fig 7.16). The need for identification surveys of industrial remains has been recognised as a priority (English Heritage 1991, 42) and to an ex- tent the Lancashire EUS has addressed this in urban areas. In Greater Manchester industrial archaeology overviews and industrial monument type reviews have been undertaken (McNeil & Stevenson 1996; McNeil & Nevell 2000; Nevell & Walker 2001). Reviews of specific industries have also been un- dertaken nationally through the Monuments Protec- tion Programme, and many of these have highlighted the significance of remains in the region. In addition, important monument-specific research has been un- dertaken in respect of various industrial remains es- pecially those relating to iron manufacturing, lead processing and glass. Nevertheless, many aspects of industrial archaeology have not received an appropri- ate level of survey and investigation to support strategies for preservation and conservation. One of the principal ways industrial archaeology Fig 7.17 Excavation of an 18th-century slitting mill at contributes to the study of the past is in a functional Lymm, Cheshire (OA North). understanding of industrial processes (Fig 7.17; Cran- stone 2003, 219), something often not revealed in the of the Post-Medieval period. The world heartland of documentary record. The identification and analysis the industrial revolution lies in midland and northern of process residues should be part of the detailed England’ (English Heritage 1991, 41). More recently investigation of any industrial site, as has recently the director of English Heritage’s North West region, been the case at Cunsey bloomery forge in the Lake stated that ‘if the North West has one enduring char- District (OA North 2004b), yet few industrial com- acteristic, it is one of technical ingenuity and innova- plexes in the North West have been adequately sam- tion’ (Cooper 2003, 8). Liverpool’s inscription as a pled. The recovery and understanding of residues can World Heritage Site for its global significance as a be crucial to the understanding of on-site technologi- seaport and mercantile city was confirmed in 2004. cal innovation (Crossley 1998). Manchester is widely recognised as the world’s first Industrial archaeology has been criticised for its industrial city, and an archetypal city of the Industrial focus on function and technology at the expense of Revolution (McNeil & Nevell 2000, 6), and on the social and cultural matters (Johnson 1996, 12; 2002, basis of its industrial heritage has been proposed for 205). This too has begun to change (Nevell 2006) world heritage site status. Even the Lake District’s and archaeologists working in the North West, par- bid for the same status is to an extent underpinned ticularly in Manchester, have been in the forefront of by its extensive remains of past industrial activity. this development, with an approach based on an ap- There can be little doubt of the importance of the preciation of social and landscape context pioneered North West’s industrial archaeological resource to by Trinder (1982; 1996) and developed by Palmer the appreciation of its cultural and environmental (2000; Palmer & Neaverson 1998). In their review of development. the development and impact of industrialisation in A review of industrial archaeology in Lancashire Tameside, Greater Manchester, Nevell and Walker (Fletcher 1996) noted that the topic had not received took a theoretical approach to their data. They as- the attention its importance merited. The SMR was sessed the occurrence of monument types through cited as under-representing sites of industrial origin time and as features attributable to specific social and it was claimed that the study of these remains, groups, producing a narrative not necessarily revealed whilst often researched by local enthusiasts, had not by the documentary record (Nevell & Walker 1999; been given much attention by professional archae- Walker et al 2003, 14). ologists. In order to place the industrial remains of the The net result was a perception that the industrial North West in a wider context, the contribution of heritage for much of the region ‘was a vast and some of the region’s archaeologically and historically

182 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment more significant industries are here assessed under most prominently represented by the Lever works at some of the broader thematic headings that they elu- Port Sunlight (M). The chemicals industry of the cidate. This approach helps to explain the various North West was also linked to textiles processing. factors which contributed to the importance of in- This association stretches back to the genesis of the dustry in the North West in the 18th to 20th centuries. chemicals industry, represented by the alum industry. It reveals how success in one industry led to develop- The majority of the works were sited in Yorkshire ments in another. although an early and important alum works was at Moreover, it demonstrates that industrialisation Pleasington, near Blackburn, in production (albeit was not a linear process. While some industries in intermittently) from 1609 until the 1770s (Miller some areas moved from a cottage basis to workshops 2002). Other works were established in Lancashire and finally factories, domestic-based craft working during the 18th century, though alum was largely re- co-existed alongside these developments often in the placed by copperas works and, after 1846, new meth- same industries. It is the complexities of industrial ods of production based on the treatment of waste activity within its social context, and the wider impli- from coal mines. This revolutionary process was pio- cations and meanings of this relationship, that ar- neered in two experimental factories in Cumbria (at chaeologists in the North West are particularly well Burgh-by-Sands and ), before a commer- placed to investigate. cial factory was erected in Miles Platting, Manchester. Nationally, the chemicals industry has received little Natural Resources archaeological attention (Cranstone 2001, 209) and the technological aspects of the early industry are not Historically one of the North West’s most important well understood. resources led to the development of an inland salt As evidenced by the development of the chemicals industry. The legacy of the salt industry, allied with industry, with its early reliance on local coal and salt, the local availability of coal, was the development of the presence of mineral resources within the region the inorganic chemicals industry in the Dee and Mer- was fundamental to the growth of industrialisation. sey basin. By the early 20th century towns like North- Major coal deposits occur in the Lancashire, Chesh- wich, Runcorn, Warrington and Widnes (Ch) were ire, and West Cumberland coalfields, with minor de- major centres of the chemicals industry, especially posits elsewhere in the region. Iron ores occur as alkali production (Stobart 2002, 72). This was linked nodules and bands in the Coal Measures, and high- to both glass and soap manufacture, the latter being grade haematite ores occur in Furness and West

Fig 7.18 The remains of lead mining at Nenthead, Alston, Cumbria (Andrew Davison).

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Cumberland. Important copper mining occurred in the Lake District and at Alderley Edge (Ch). There were also nationally-important centres of copper- smelting and working at Macclesfield (using ores from Ecton in Staffordshire), and around St Helens and Liverpool (using ores from Parys Mountain in Anglesey). Lead ores are also widespread in the Lake District and the Alston area (Fig 7.18), with impor- tant mines and smelters around Nenthead and Gar- rigill (C) and lesser industries near Cleator Moor (Banks et al 1994). Zinc ores and barium minerals are found in association with lead in these orefields (and in outlying occurrences); the 19th century Tindale zinc smelter (C) is of considerable importance Fig 7.19 Interior of the shot tower at Chester leadworks (Almond 1978), and the barium mineral witherite was (Andrew Davison). first identified at Anglezarke lead mines (L). The mining of metal ores has been the most widely in Greater Manchester has helped to show how the studied set of extractive industries in the region. Lead wrought iron industry developed across the region mining in the north Pennines especially has received (Nevell & Roberts 2003). The later iron industry in much attention and the development of its distinctive the 19th century has been less well studied both re- landscape assisted in the area being given the status gionally and nationally. The application of the Besse- of a European Geopark (Forbes et al 2003, 4). The mer process and the rise of the modern integrated long-term research project at Nenthead mines (C) is iron and steel works has received little archaeological of particular note for showing the development of a attention until recently. Excavations at the Barrow mining and processing complex in the 18th and 19th Ironworks however, have investigated the remains of centuries. Lead mining in Lancashire at Bowland, one of the earliest Bessemer ironworks and indicate Anglezarke and has been the subject of that archaeology has much to reveal about even late some study (Higham 1989c; 2003b), and the Riming- 19th century, well documented production sites ton mine workings have recently been scheduled. (Ironbridge Archaeology 2003). The archaeology of The secondary processing of lead is less well under- the end product of the 19th century iron industry has stood, although the recent survey of the lead shot been little studied, whether the local smithy or an tower at Chester is an exception to this (Fig 7.19). engineering works. The archaeological potential of The copper and iron mining industries in Cumbria the 19th century urban foundry is hinted at in salvage have been the subject for many years of research by excavation work undertaken at the St Helens Foun- the Cumbria Amenity and Mining History Society dry, though the main casting shops were unavailable and there has been a range of popular-style publica- for investigation (Hedley & Scott 1999). tions by authors such as Tyler (1990; 1995; 1998; Aside from metal ores, stone was extracted for 1999; 2001). Surveys have included the mapping of building throughout the region. Silurian and Ordovi- underground workings as at Coniston copper mines. cian slates were mined in Cumbria and a study has In Furness the iron industry was the subject of an been made of the still operational Honister slate assessment survey carried out by English Heritage mine (Tyler 1994). Limestone is found throughout (Bowden 2000), whilst many years of work by Mike the region and is still extracted in Cumbria and Lan- Davies-Shiel throughout Cumbria, has identified nu- cashire. Normal extraction of limestone was by quar- merous mining and iron-working sites (1998). rying, except to the north of Burnley where it was In addition to extraction sites, iron manufactories obtained by hushing. Both limestone and gritstone have been the subject of a number of archaeological were key components in the building of the industrial studies. The 18th century charcoal blast furnaces of towns. The gritstone quarries of Rosendale (L), Furness such as Duddon, Newlands, and Nibthwaite which supplied the North West with much of its are the best survivals of this technology in England. building stone in the 19th century, have been the West Cumbria also retains important sites from the subject of recent survey (UMAU 2003a). early development of coke smelting, including the The region’s clays provided the materials for nu- 1690s experimental furnace at Cleator (Blick 1983), merous brick and tile manufactories, leading to the and the successful 1720s Little Clifton furnace. The development of a nationally important brick-making Backbarrow (C) ironworks blast furnaces, assessed industry in the 19th century around Accrington (L). for conservation in 1992, are another example of the Few of these kiln sites have been investigated innovative adaptation of 18th century furnaces in the archaeologically, although the Grotton Brickworks 19th century (LUAU 1992). near (GM), is one notable example (Nevell Elsewhere the study of the Park Bridge Ironworks & Walker 2004b).

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The Shirdley Hill Sands were an important factor in manufacture of wooden boxes, barrels and casks. the early glass production sites of St Helens, together Old Sedgwick, established in c 1764, was the earliest with the close proximity of the coal measures. Lesser of this group and little now survives of this site minerals extracted included gypsum (Tyler 2000), (Jecock & Dunn 2002). Gatebeck was the last to wad and wolfram in Cumbria, and cobalt in Cheshire. close, with production ceasing in 1936. The coal industry of the region has received little When the works closed the buildings involved with attention, apart from the MPP Step 1 Report and the actual processing were demolished or burnt to Step 3 assessments (Gould & Cranstone 1993; In- prevent the possibility of any residual gunpowder in stone & Cranstone 1994); the latter indicates that the their fabric accidentally igniting. Generally all that region also contains a substantial proportion of sur- remains of these structures other than the water viving coke ovens, including the early Maryport (C) power arrangements, are ancillary buildings which and Tewitfield (L) examples. One exception to this were not involved in production or storage, blast lack of fieldwork has been the research work at Park banks and blast walls. The latter were often free- Bridge where UMAU have excavated a colliery standing but in the case of the incorporating mills pumping engine from the 1760s (Nevell, Roberts & they also formed the rear and side walls of the mill Champness 2004). The wider survey work at Park chambers. With the exception of Blackbeck, which Bridge and the unpublished research and recording unusually was always steam-powered, water was for a Conservation Plan at Aspen colliery and coke brought from rivers adjacent to the manufactories ovens (L) confirms that colliery sites have consider- along massively constructed millraces to drive the able, and untapped, archaeological potential (D Cran- waterwheels and later turbines. The millraces, water- stone pers comm). wheel and turbine pits often survive, as do traces of the tramway systems, which serviced the works. Water Power There has been much historical research into the Cumbrian gunpowder industry directed at both the In the later 18th century steam power began to re- industry as a whole and at individual sites (Crocker & place the water wheel in the textiles industries and Crocker 1992; Patterson 1995; Palmer 1998; Tyler even for corn milling in the later 19th century, but 2002). Until recently there has been little formal ex- water remained the power source for a number of amination and detailed recording of the surviving other industries. The need to avoid combustion on archaeological and architectural remains, beyond site made it the safe motive force for gunpowder Mike Davies-Shiels’s fieldwork in the 1960s (Marshall manufacture. Gunpowder production in the North & Davies-Shiel 1969, 75-88) and a survey of the blast West began in the 18th century. The Thelwell works walls at Basingill (LUAU 1996e) The importance of in Cheshire were established beside the River Mersey the industry’s remains, however, have been acknowl- in 1758, and operated until an explosion destroyed edged by English Heritage who have embarked on a them in 1855, no remains are considered to survive thematic project to record them (Jecock 2003, 6-7). (Crocker 1988, 35). The other seven manufactories Comprehensive survey reports have been produced were erected in river valleys in south Cumbria where for Old Sedgwick, Basingill, Elterwater and New in addition to available water power there were ample Sedgwick (Jecock & Dunn 2002; Hunt & Goodall supplies of timber for both charcoal making and the 2002; Jecock et al 2003; Dunn et al 2003) and field- work has commenced at Blackbeck and Lowwood. Bobbin mills are a small and regionally distinctive, Fig 7.20 Handloom weavers’ cottages on Earnshaw, Road, water-powered industry in the Lake District, utilising Bacup, Lancashire (Egerton Lea). local coppiced woodland and serving the cotton in- dustry of Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Howk Bobbin Mill, Caldbeck (C) has been the subject of detailed survey (LUAU 1995d) and Stott Park Bob- bin Mill, Lakeside (C) remains a working enterprise, as an English Heritage site. There were some bobbin mills in the and scattered throughout eastern Lancashire.

Cottage Industry

In addition to mills and extraction sites, industrial activity was carried on in the home. The ‘spinning galleries’ of south Cumbrian farms are one obvious manifestation of this (Denyer 1991, 125). Many ac- tivities that were later mechanised and centralised in

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1999). At a town began to develop in the 19th century based primarily on cottage industries. There handloom weaving was undertaken in conjunction with nail making (Egerton Lea 2004c). Within the region, however, nailmaking was concentrated in the township of Atherton (GM), on the south Lancashire coalfield. It was an important by-employment in the district from the 16th century but was in decline by the end of the 18th century. At least one cottage used formerly for nail making has been the subject of a building survey and this appears to have had a work- shop attached to the rear (Morgan 1998). Ashmore Fig 7.21 19th-century glass furnace under excavation in An- (1969) considered that the case was not proven that coats, Manchester (OA North). many of the surviving workshops to the rear of houses in the district were mainly linked to nailmak- factories originated in the home. It is important to ing. The production of nails as a cottage industry note, however, that domestic-based industry (Fig continued on into the early 20th century around Or- 7.20) continued alongside workshop and factory pro- rel. Archaeological evidence of the late survival of duction. Sometimes there was a direct evolution cottage-based smithing to produce nails or other from one form of production to another, but often small metal goods comes from Chester. There the elements of the former domestic industry survived in excavation of a 19th century domestic court revealed isolated areas or where specialised products were previously unsuspected evidence of cottage industry required. Cottage-based industry such as clock and smithing, with the forges being operated by children watch-making, common in Ormskirk and Prescot, as late as the first decade of the 20th century was influential in developing essential skills for fac- (Matthews 1999). tory based production, such as precision engineering. Handloom weaving was in operation from the Me- Globalisation dieval period onwards in the region. However, the main development of home-based weaving as an in- The impact of international links was reflected in the dustry probably occurred in the Elizabethan period growth of new industries based on foreign raw mate- around Manchester. Handloom weaving as a cottage rials and on the borrowing of skills and technology industry grew rapidly in the late 18th century in re- from abroad. The raw materials primarily came from sponse to the greater output of the mechanised spin- the West Indies and American colonies and included ning mills and continued to grow until the wide- cotton, sugar and tobacco. The industrial skills and spread adoption of mechanised weaving in the mid- technologies were derived from the European 19th century. Handloom weavers, mainly of cotton, mainland and their acquisition was a significant fac- formed the single largest occupation group in early tor in the development of industry within the region. 19th century Greater Manchester and Lancashire It began during the Elizabethan period with German (Timmins 1996, 18), with particularly notable con- workers brought in to mine the ores of Lakeland. centrations around Blackburn, Colne, Saddleworth Also in the 16th century French Huguenot migrants and . The houses of these workers were in London moved from Spitalfields to bring their designed to meet the needs of the industry with skills and knowledge in the production of to multi-light mullioned windows and in parts of east Macclesfield. 19th century examples include Swiss and Lancashire cellar loomshops. Organised on a putting- German technology being used in the development out basis the industry was frequently centralised into of roller milling by Simon Engineering of Manches- separate loomshops either formed from farm build- ter. ings or built as bespoke workshops. Surviving exam- No certain clay tobacco pipe production groups or ples are rare. The impact of handloom weaving on kiln sites have been recovered dating to the 18th cen- housing has been studied by Timmins (1977; 1979) tury. Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester joined and in Preston by Morgan (1990). In east Lancashire Chester and Rainford as the principal production the occurrence of handloom weavers’ cottages has centres. 19th century production is attested from been catalogued by Rothwell (1979a; 1979b; 1979c; many centres in the region from Carlisle to North- 1980a; 1980b; 1981; 1985; 1990) and in urban areas wich, often represented by a single maker. Rainford, throughout Lancashire during the EUS. Outside Lan- Liverpool and Manchester were predominant, Ches- cashire such buildings have been little studied in the ter continued but at a more modest level, and White- North West, Manchester (Nevell 2003d) and Tame- haven provided a new focus on the Cumbrian west side being notable exceptions (Nevell & Walker coast.

186 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment

Foreign competition and German technology mills in Manchester before 1781. At this date the played an important role in the growth of the glass leading textile mill towns in the region were Maccles- industry in St Helens (M). In 1773 the British Plate field with 26 factories and Stockport with 25 facto- Glass Co established a works at Ravenhead, St Hel- ries (Nevell with Grimsditch & King 2006). The first ens. These were taken over by Pilkingtons in the later cotton spinning mill in Manchester, Arkwright’s on 19th century. The Pilkingtons worked with the Sie- Miller Street, was built in 1781-2 and has been the mens brothers in the development of a regenerative subject of recent evaluation (M Nevell pers comm.). furnace. Their Number 9 Tank House was the site of By 1800 there were at least 29 purpose-built cotton probably the largest industrial archaeological project spinning mills within the boundaries of the old town- in the North West. This combined oral and docu- ship (Nevell 2003). Most of these were five- or six- mentary history with building survey and excavation storey, steam powered factories (the Manchester Fac- to provide a picture of the functional and social sig- tory), a type which now dominates the archaeology nificance of the works (Krupa & Heawood 2002). It of the Lancashire cotton spinning industry. Many of also gave a detailed analysis of the undocumented these were in multiple occupancy as room and power adaptation of new technologies in the late 19th cen- mills and by 1816 there were 86 steam-powered cot- tury. By the 1860s St Helens was the main centre of ton spinning mills within the city (Williams with Far- plate-glass manufacture in the country (Barker 1994; nie 1992). The city was the leading centre of cotton Ashmore 1982, 14). In addition to St Helens, there spinning during the first half of the 19th century. The were crown glass-works in Warrington and Newton- Chorlton-on-Medlock area has an important surviv- le-Willows and numerous flint-glass works making ing early grouping including Chorlton New Mill, tableware in Manchester and Salford (Ashmore 1982, probably the earliest surviving example of a fireproof 14). A recently excavated 19th century glassworks in mill in Greater Manchester. The 19th century spread Manchester contained the impressive remains of of steam power led to an increase in the size of mills three furnaces, which showed rapid technological as more spindles and power looms could be operated development over forty years including hitherto un- (Dickinson 1984, 2002). known details of furnaces and processes (I Miller The importance of factory-based textile production pers comm). in the region has led to a number of district-based overview surveys of the mills. The RCHME in the Factories early 1990s completed comprehensive surveys of the

The creation of factories where large workforces Fig 7.22 The multi-period 19th century engine house under could mass-produce a product first occurred in the excavation at Portwood Mills, Stockport (UMAU). textile industry and pre-dated mechanisation, such as the hand-powered linen textile factory at Lowther, near Penrith (C), erected in 1742 (Robinson 1998, 57). The invention of spinning machinery for manu- facturing textile allowed the mechanisation of the process through the application of first water power and later steam. The very earliest mechanised factories in Britain were silk throwing mills. In the North West the first such mills were established in Cheshire, the earliest being Button Mill in Maccles- field in 1744 (Calladine & Fricker 1993, 9). The first mechanised cotton spinning mills used water-frames and appeared in the 1770s, closely followed by jenny factories and spinning mule mills. Water-powered woollen carding mills appeared after 1775 (Nevell with Grimsditch & King 2006), whilst the first mechanised worsted factory, which adapted the wa- ter-frame, was established in 1784 at Dolphinholme (L). However, from then on the region became noted primarily for the production of cotton goods. Over 1600 mills are known in Greater Manchester alone (Hill 1927; Williams with Farnie 1992), with the Ancoats area of Manchester having one of the earli- est concentrations of steam-powered plant anywhere with another important early group in Chorlton- upon-Medlock (Williams 2002). There were no textile

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 187 The Archaeology of North West England cotton mills of Greater Manchester (Williams with Farnie 1992) and the textile mills of east Cheshire (Calladine & Fricker 1993). In addition Ian Haynes published reviews of the cotton mills in Ashton (1987), Dunkinfield (1993), Stalybridge (1990) and Mossley (1996), as well as of the textile mills of Hyde (2002). Similar volumes have been produced for the cotton mills of Bolton (Longworth 1987) and Old- ham (Gurr & Hunt 1998). These volumes review both technological and architectural development. The prolific and varied mills of Lancashire have not been so intensively or so comprehensively surveyed (Fig 7.23). English Heritage compiled a primarily architectural inventory of textile mills in Pendle (Taylor 2000) and Mike Rothwell’s various surveys of industrial heritage in east Lancashire (1979a; 1979b; 1979c; 1980a; 1980b; 1981; 1985; 1990) provide brief details of most of the textile mills in that area, as does James Price’s review of the industrial archae- ology of the Lune Valley (1983). More similar in scope and depth to the work undertaken in Greater Manchester and east Cheshire is the recent volume on the cotton mills of Preston (Dickinson 2002). This concentrates on the steam technology used in the mills but a more architecturally based study was previously undertaken by Scott (1952). Fig 7.24 The Kirklees Valley, a bleachworks landscape in Whilst a number of late 18th and 19th century textile Bury (UMAU). factories have been surveyed in detail (the RCHME studied 39 mills in Greater Manchester during the ples survive only as ruins or as below ground remains 1980s and since 1992 a further 54 examples in the and until recently few have been explored by excava- county have been recorded), most of the early exam- tion. Consequently an archaeological miscellany of the textile industry of Manchester in 1996 was be necessity compiled without any reference to exca- Fig 7.23 India Mill, Darwen, Lancashire (Egerton Lea). vated evidence (McNeil & Walker 1996). In Greater Manchester 23 textile mill sites have been investi- gated since 1992, although where earlier mill remains have been excavated, as at Eagley Mill, Bolton (LUAU 1999c), or Portwood Mills in Stockport (UMAU 2004; Fig 7.22) the work has been limited in scale and remains unpublished. Textile bleachworks remain under-researched, although recent work in Greater Manchester at sites as Standish, Wallsuches and bleachworks in the Kirklees Valley (UMAU 2005b; 2005c; Fig 7.24) is starting to rectify this. Engineering grew in the region in part because of the textile industries need for mechanised spinning and weaving equipment and steam engines. In 1917 the cotton trade year book listed over 60 North West firms involved in machinery-making for textiles. In 1853 a loom manufactory was established in Accring- ton (L). This grew into the Globe Engineering Works, which at its peak in the early 1920s employed a workforce of 6000 in a complex of factory build- ings (Randall 2000, 36-41). These have either been demolished or converted and all without record. The region became noted for the production of steam locomotives and steam plant with over twenty steam plant manufacturers in Lancashire alone by the

188 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment latter part of the 19th century. Steam locomotive ated with both industries. It is likely that the region’s manufacture was carried out at Crewe, Gorton (GM), engineering tradition, including early car manufac- (GM) and Liverpool, with steam wagons ture, helped to establish it as a centre of aircraft pro- produced at Birkenhead and Leyland. Tramcars were duction. The world’s first registered aircraft pro- also manufactured at Birkenhead, Manchester and ducer, Avro, was established in Manchester in 1910. Preston and at Lancaster a wagon works was estab- Later the company went on to produce the Lancaster lished, which has been partially recorded and ana- and then the Vulcan bombers. Rolls Royce produced lysed (Woodhouse 1973). the world’s first jet engine in Clitheroe. Other com- Little archaeological recording has been undertaken panies with important aircraft factories in the region on engineering works, although the recent surveys of include Bristol at Clayton-le-Moors (L), Lucas at sites such as Budenburg’s in Broadheath (GM; Burnley and Napiers at Liverpool. In addition flying UMAU 2003b) and Hick Hargreave’s Works in Bol- boats were built on the near Preston in ton (GM; UMAU 2002b) are notable exceptions. the 1920s and on Lake Windermere in the 1940s Nevertheless, engineering sites are continuing to be (www.lancashire.gov.uk). There has been no compre- demolished and converted often without an archaeo- hensive survey of the surviving remains associated logical record. with these endeavours and most of the factory com- plexes have been reused and redeveloped. The North 20th Century Industries West remains one of the principal centres of the modern British aerospace industry which is the re- The 20th century witnessed the widespread adoption gion’s most significant surviving manufacturing in- of automated processes in large plants on a scale pre- dustry. viously not seen. Cars and commercial vehicles were made in the North West from 1898 and until the Trade, Exchange and Interaction Second World War the industry was a significant em- ployer in the region (Timmins 1998). Despite the While archaeological evidence for trade links comes industry’s association with mass production methods, primarily from artefacts found during fieldwork (Fig many of the early factories reused redundant plant 7.25) the lack of analysed large-scale excavation on from other industries, also utilising the engineering Post-Medieval sites limits the potential for examining expertise which had developed in those industries. Post-Medieval trade outside of Chester and Liver- Nearly all the early factories were adoptions of other pool. Additional archaeological evidence for the im- building types (George 2004). Mill buildings, textile portance of trade to the region, especially overseas, machinery works, engineering workshops, horse tram as well as some evidence for contacts, can be found depots, electric tramcar works, cycle and sewing ma- in a variety of structures that appeared in the Post- chine factories, were all utilised by the pioneer entre- Medieval period. The historical evidence points to a preneurs. One or two factories only were purpose- wide range of objects entering Chester both by the built examples or extensions on a single storey layout port and over land, in addition to the movement of such as Belsize at Clayton (1900-1925) and Crossleys people. However, the archaeological evidence for in Openshaw (1904-1938/47). these external contacts is relatively rare. Many of the Blackpool, Bolton, Crewe, Leyland, Liverpool, goods were either perishable or raw materials which Manchester, Oldham, Sandbach, Southport, Stock- were converted to or used to produce other objects port and Wigan all had significant enterprises (Collins and materials. They included wine, foodstuffs, in- & Stratton 1993). There were also short-lived firms cluding grain and animals, cloth, metal, pitch/tar and in Cumbria at Carlisle and Cockermouth. After timber. The principal archaeological evidence for this World War Two the motor industry in the region was much reduced. Factories continued in production in Fig 7.25 An early 19th century soda bottle excavated from a Crewe, Sandbach and Leyland. Another new factory soda works in Manchester (UMAU). was built at Speke by Standard-Triumph in the 1960s and is now closed. The legacy of this industry is best represented at sites such as the Vulcan motor works factory at Crossens near Southport (M), a splendid example of a redbrick, late Edwardian works and largely unaltered externally. The former Rolls Royce works at Crewe is an example of a shadow aero en- gine factory subsequently adapted for car manufac- ture. Car manufacture was closely linked to aircraft pro- duction, especially in relation to making engines, and a number of companies like Rolls Royce were associ-

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 189 The Archaeology of North West England

Fig 7.26 Finsley Docks, Burnley (Egerton Lea). trade consists of stone and glass and, most of all, for more detailed survey and investigation of the im- ceramics. Sources of traded ceramics do not reflect pact of canal-building on the rural economy and accurately a port’s trade, thus archaeological evidence landscape in the 18th century. alone will provide a skewed picture of domestic and The archaeology of the small boats used on the overseas contacts (Allan 1999, 286). canals and rivers as well as for coastal trade is also in its infancy in the North West. Several 19th century Domestic Trade Mersey Flats (large barges suitable for estuarine sail- ing) were sunk in the canal basin at Chester. These Navigations and canals opened up the region for were recorded in situ and key structural elements were trade so that the movement of goods was no longer recovered. The railways enhanced inter-regional trade dependant on local markets or coastal shipping. As further. One of the more noticeable physical effects well as improving the movement of goods within the of rail transport was the distribution of the bricks region, they greatly facilitated inter-regional trade. known as Accrington Bloods. These were widely The Leeds and Liverpool Canal transported coal used for building throughout the North West and from east Lancashire to Liverpool and grain from further afield but hardly at all in east Lancashire Liverpool to east Lancashire’s flour mills. went where they were made. from Lancashire to Yorkshire and woollen cloth re- turned, much of it for export. The River Weaver Overseas Trade Navigation opened in 1734 and the Trent and Mer- sey Canal, opened in 1777, unlocked Cheshire’s salt- The main archaeological evidence for overseas trade, fields and enabled a great expansion of the industry before the arrival of the railways, is likely to be found to take place. associated with ports and to a lesser extent with Apart from significant work done in Manchester other accessible urban areas. With the notable excep- (Nevell 2003; Nevell & Walker 2001), little archaeo- tion of Chester and to a lesser extent Liverpool, how- logical investigation has focused on canal construc- ever, there is little available excavated data from the tion and development or the buildings (Fig 7.26) and North West. Relevant work in Carlisle, Kendal, Lan- industries closely associated with the waterways out- caster and Manchester awaits full publication, al- side the larger urban centres. The proposed restora- though there is a recent review of the archaeology of tion of the northern reaches of the Lancaster canal, Manchester’s waterfronts (Nevell 2004), whilst little in-filled in the 1960s, may provide one opportunity work of relevance has been carried out in Preston

190 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment and none at all in Whitehaven (C). for export across the globe. Coal also leaves little Chester remained the largest port in the North trace as a traded commodity but the desire to export West into the 17th century, indeed, it was the most coal and locally produced salt led to the development important port on the western seaboard after Bristol. of a new town and port at Whitehaven. Developed Subsequently its relative importance slowly dwindled initially in the late 17th century, it expanded further in because of continued silting, the expansion of com- the 18th century through the transatlantic trade in petitors such as Liverpool and Whitehaven, local in- tobacco and African slaves (Beckett 1981). The for- ertia, and the growth of other forms of transport mer RCHME carried out an exemplary study of (Woodward 1996). Nevertheless, trade continued in a Whitehaven’s urban development and of its surviving variety of commodities and in passengers, especially fabric (Collier 1991), but the town has lacked excava- with Ireland from Chester’s outport at Parkgate tions from which to gain data on its wider contacts (Place 1996). Clay tobacco pipes from Chester and and imports. Rainford found in the towns of northern and eastern In south-west England it has been demonstrated Ireland are testimony to these contacts. In the 1730s that most of Exeter’s pantile exports in the early 18th there was a concerted attempt to revitalise the port century went to the West Indies as ballast in outgo- through the canalisation of the wide and meandering ing vessels engaged in the sugar trade (Allan 1984). A estuary and the construction of New Crane Wharf to similar study of the North West’s ports would be the west of the urban centre. The estuary was subse- informative, and the presence of Buckley or Preston quently connected to the canal network (a largely pottery is a noted feature on 18th century North unsuccessful exercise) and to a major railway trans- American eastern seaboard sites, but for much of shipment complex at Saltney. In addition the tradi- that century one of the most likely exports carried by tion of local shipbuilding along the Dee continued the ships of these ports to the Americas and West and apparently flourished from the mid-18th century Indies was African slaves. The trade was seldom di- well into the 20th century. rect, however, instead goods were taken to West Af- Another local export product that leaves little ar- rica exchanged for slaves who were than shipped to chaeological trace beyond its production site is salt. the West Indies or American colonies. The ships re- The growth of the salt industry after 1840 was pri- turned with tobacco, sugar, cotton or coffee marily a result of the export trade directed from the (Whincop & White 1988, 23). Consequently there is port of Liverpool. By 1880 over a million tons of salt unlikely to be much archaeological evidence in the annually was shipped down the Weaver Navigation North West that would indicate the region’s promi-

Fig 7.27 Manchester Ship Canal (Cheshire County Council).

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tion of 16th to 18th century deposits at ports have been rare’ (1990, 85), which makes these deposits and those recently encountered in Liverpool of con- siderable significance. The impact of the Atlantic trade was most keenly in Liverpool where its requirements and the wealth generated by it led in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to a total overhaul of its trading facili- ties as the town was remodelled to suit its new inter- national and imperial role. The old market area was levelled in 1726. The pool from which the town de- rived its name was progressively in-filled with rub- bish until it was completely reclaimed by 1710 (Davey & McNeil 1980) and in the same year work began on the construction of the Old Dock at Can- ning Place. Completed by 1716 this was the world’s first commercial enclosed wet dock. Recent excava- tions have shown that the massively built stone and brick wall to the dock survives largely intact (LUAU 2001b). It is difficult to overemphasise the signifi- cance of these remains. They encapsulate the impor- tance of trade between the North West and the wider world by the 18th century. Unlike Chester or Liverpool, Lancaster has re- ceived little archaeological study of its port facilities, but St George’s Quay, built in 1750 with its distinc- tive near-contemporary three- to four-storey ware- Fig 7.28 Late 19th and early 20th century text warehouse houses and Customs house, substantially survives along the Rochdale Canal (UMAU). (Williamson 2002). Archaeological work at the site of Pye’s Warehouse, Lancaster, revealed a number of nent role in the trade. Amongst the few reminders tipped deposits containing an interesting assemblage are two slaves’ graves near Lancaster, one at Sunder- of pottery, which represented reclamation as part of land Point for a slave called ‘Sambo’ and another in the construction of the quay (OA North 2003e). Poulton-le-Sands churchyard. Whitehaven’s harbour and some of its waterfront also survives, though the majority of its early ware- Port houses have been demolished (Collier 1991, 5). From the later 19th century the Salford Quays area The remains of port structures, especially from the in Greater Manchester developed as a result of the 18th century are one of the best physical indicators of buildings of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 (Fig the growth in the importance of the transatlantic 7.27) which at the time transformed Manchester and trade. In Chester the massive 18th century sandstone Salford into the world’s largest inland port 36 miles wall of Crane Wharf stands largely intact. The only associated buildings still surviving are the Harbour- Fig 7.29 Second World War pillbox at Cavendish Dock, master’s house and the TS Deva warehouse. The area Barrow in Furness (Egerton Lea). is currently subject to redevelopment and a series of archaeological investigations have been undertaken revealing a wide range of evidence. This has included structural evidence for the quay wall and flimsy and ephemeral remains of the cheese warehouse, the main shipment point for Cheshire cheese to London in the 18th and 19th century. Surveys of several wharf- side buildings have been undertaken, including a de- tailed record of two workshops and a 19th century smithy. Of particular interest may be the sequence of rapid and massive silting episodes in the 17th and 18th centuries which was finally stabilised by the construc- tion of the quay wall (based on sediment analysis). Crossley wrote in 1990 that ‘comprehensive examina-

192 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 7: Industrial Period Resource Assessment from the sea. The ‘Great Ditch’ survives as a signifi- cant piece of industrial archaeology and is associated with a group of exceptional monuments including the Barton Swing Aqueduct (McNeil 2002).

Warehouses

Warehouses are a further indicator of the significance of trade (Fig 7.28). The archaeological importance and potential of warehouses in the North West has been demonstrated by Nevell’s recent studies of ca- nal warehouses, a structure claimed to have been de- veloped in the North West for which he has devel- oped a typology (Nevell & Walker 2001; Nevell Fig 7.30 Spadeadam blue streak rocket testing site, Cumbria 2003). In 1998 the Duke’s Warehouse in Manchester (Andrew Davison). was excavated and was shown to be the first pur- pose-built canal warehouse, with internal water-filled although a practice camp has recently been identified canal arms (Nevell 2003, 46). Built on the Bridge- at Barrow from aerial photographs (D Parkin pers water canal, it led the way in the creation of the dock comm). Barrow, Liverpool and Manchester had anti- and warehouse district of Castlefield. aircraft batteries (Dobinson 1996b) although little By the 18th century some of Liverpool’s ware- detail of their location is known. The Great War saw houses were 13 storeys high and amongst the largest the establishment of the largest ordnance factory in buildings in the North West. Little survives of the the British Empire, to the north of Carlisle. Known early warehouses but the scale and complexity of the as ROF Gretna it occupied a number of sites and 19th century and later warehouses serves as an indica- surviving remains were surveyed by English Heritage tor of the North West’s vast consumption of perish- in their review of the explosives industry (Cocroft able goods. The corn warehouses along Waterloo 2000). Road, dating to 1868, were the first grain warehouses As war threatened again in the 1930s the Royal in the world to have a central power source driving Ordnance expanded its works beyond its London the grain elevators and conveyors. The largest of all plants, building a further 40 factories in the late the historic warehouses in Liverpool is the 1901 1930s into the 1940s. There were Royal Ordnance Stanley Dock tobacco warehouse which remains one Factories (ROF) throughout the region, although few of the biggest structures in the city. have received detailed recording, and many are ab- sent from the Defence of Britain Project database. In Defence contrast, work has been undertaken on the Royal Ordnance Factory at Chorley (Nevell et al 1999), at Carlisle was witness to the last siege on English soil the time of its construction in the late 1930s the larg- after it was seized by the Jacobites in 1745. Although est filling factory in the world, although the military neglected the city’s defences were obviously still vi- nature of the site prevented wide-scale survey. able, and the defenders undertook further measures The perceived threat of invasion in 1940 led to the to hold the town (Oates 2003, 174). The siege lasted construction of defence lines and defended strong- nine days. The uprising also led to the construction points along the coastline and the major inland route- of General Wade’s new Road between Carlisle and ways (Fig 7.29). The region was never perceived to Newcastle (Lawson 1979). be as vulnerable as the south and south-east, but In the later 18th century military attention shifted measures were undertaken against the possibility of away from the Scottish border and towards coastal an invasion launched from Ireland (Dobinson 1996f, defence. The protection of the region’s Atlantic trade 121). The port of Liverpool and the industrial areas from seaborne attack was of especial importance. around Manchester were viewed as key targets and Little is known or likely to survive of the coastal for- inland the so-called strategic stop-lines relied heavily tifications at Liverpool but the Old Fort at White- on fortifying existing barriers, such as the major riv- haven, built in 1741, was excavated in the 19th cen- ers and canals (Rigby undated). tury and again in the 1970s (Taylor & Richardson From late 1940 the major industrial centres of the 1979). The harbour at Whitehaven was protected by North West also became targets for enemy bombing a half-moon battery which no longer survives. Shore raids and an extensive operation of defence and de- batteries continued to be built in the 19th century ceit was put in place including anti-aircraft batteries with sites at New Brighton (M), Fleetwood and and decoys designed to imitate bomb runs (QF sites) Morecambe (L), but none has been investigated. or specific targets such as furnaces, factories and rail- Studies of remains from 1914-18 are not common, way sites (QL sites). Many of the industrial cities

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 193 The Archaeology of North West England within the region had dummy fire sites (known as bria retains the remains of the world’s first commer- QF, QL and starfish) within their hinterlands. Liver- cial-sized nuclear power station for early military and pool was ringed by 14 different sites. civil development of nuclear energy. Calder Hall was The English Heritage Monuments Protection Pro- the site of a number of experimental innovations for gramme has undertaken a concerted assessment of both the weapons and energy industry. The nuclear 20th century fortifications since 1994 (English Heri- weapons programme here has ceased and today Sella- tage 1998), considerably increasing the awareness and field leads in the world’s most modern systems for protection of surviving sites. decommissioning nuclear plant and for reprocessing This programme included Colin Dobinson’s used nuclear waste. (1996a-g) extensive assessment of records of 20th century military sites, which also informed the com- Legacy prehensive programme of recording of military sites undertaken by the Defence of Britain Project be- The Windscale nuclear piles, abandoned after the tween 1995 and 2002 (http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ disastrous 1957 fire, have still be to be fully decon- projects/dob/index.html). The Defence of Britain taminated and demolished and any proposals for re- project is now complete and the database is fixed, cording or preservation raise problematic issues. The and will not be updated. The continued researching reactor chimneys remain standing, overlooking the and recording of 20th century defence architecture West Cumbrian coast on the edge of the proposed remains a predominantly amateur pursuit with little Lake District World Heritage Site, as an icon of the co-ordination of publication and dissemination of North West’s role in pioneering industrial technolo- survey work. gies, and an extreme example of the challenge which Despite this there are considerable survey and pho- the region faces in managing its Industrial Period tographic archives being accumulated on the north- heritage. ern Liverpool defence lines (J Virgo pers comm) and The scale of the legacy from the North West’s ex- 20th century defence sites in north Lancashire and traordinary growth over the last two centuries cannot Cumbria (http://www.huttonrow.co.uk; be underestimated, nor the challenge that archaeolo- www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~rwbarnes; D Parkin gists face in gaining acceptance of the value and in- pers comm) terest of this inheritance for local communities. ‘The RAF Spadeadam (Fig 7.30) will become one of the North West was arguable the first region in England most important late 20th century monuments in the – and therefore in the world – to experience signifi- region. Established in 1956 as a test site for the Blue cant industrialisation...Today (it) faces unprecedented Streak missile project it is of international impor- challenges in finding new uses for its great buildings, tance, later acting as the test site for European col- public spaces and historic transport net- laborative efforts to establish a space programme. works’ (English Heritage 2003). The regeneration of Surviving elements include test sites and test stands, historic industrial and commercial quarters is poten- control bunkers, administrative blocks and a tempo- tially the largest future area of demand for new ar- rary labourers’ camp (English Heritage 2002a). The chaeological research and investigation. It is here that site was surveyed and recorded by English Heritage archaeological research can illuminate the unwritten as part of the Monuments Protection Programme. histories of the communities that transformed the Other important Cold War sites in the North West North West from a marginal rural economy to a include an early 1950s anti-aircraft battery at Norley, world player in international trade, manufacturing, Cheshire, and its operations room nearby at Frod- and technological innovation. Those achievements sham (Cocroft 2000; English Heritage 2002a). are exemplified in the newly inscribed World Heri- The Guardian underground telephone exchange in tage Site of Liverpool’s maritime mercantile city and Manchester, dating to the 1950s, is one of only three the proposed inscription of Manchester as archetype such exchanges built as emergency bomb protected city of the Industrial Revolution. New approaches switching facilities (English Heritage 2002a). The and skills will be demanded to meet the research Greenside lead mine at Glenridding, Cumbria, was challenges that this legacy brings and in this field in used in the 1960s for testing detonators for nuclear particular the North West is well-placed to develop weapons, and further research is needed to establish its leading role in innovative research projects and its significance (English Heritage 2002a). The Calder programmes. Hall/Windscale/ nuclear complex in Cum-

194 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006)