THE INFLUENCE OF RAILWAYS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACCRINGTON AND DISTRICT, 1848-1914 .1 • I • t•1 "I •I BY MARK ALAN HAYDOCK, BA., M.A. A THESIS SUBMI1TED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE July 2009 University of Central Lancashire Student Declaration Concurrent registration for two or more academic awards Either *1 declare that while registered as a candidate for the research degree, I have not been a registered candidate or enrolled student for another award of the University or other academic or professional institution or *1 declare that while registered for the research degree, I was with the University's specific permission, a *registered candidaterenrolled student for the following award: Material submitted for another award Either *1 declare that no material contained in the thesis has been used in any other submission for an academic award and is solely my own work. or I declare that the following material contained in the thesis formed part of a submission for the award of (state award and awarding body and list the material below): Collaboration Where a candidates research programme is part of a collaborative project, the thesis must indicate in addition clearly the candidate's individual contribution and the extent of the collaboration. Please state below Signature of Candidate Type of Award PA tO - r r 1 p School ABSTRACT OF THESIS The project explores the complex and counter-intuitive historical relationships between railways and development through a local study of Accrington and the surrounding smaller towns and townships in East Lancashire. This distinctive, yet little-researched, district formed a compact and self-contained niini-conurbation by 1914 flanked by its larger neighbours Blackburn and Bumley. Accrington itself flinctioned as the transport hub for the sub-region, dominated by cotton, coal, engineering and brick making, and served by the East Lancashire Railway from 1848 to 1859, and then by the successor amalgamated company, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, until 1922. The important and unusual 1-shaped rail network linked the district to Preston, Liverpool and West Lancashire, Leeds, Bradford and West Yorkshire, and towards the south, Bury and Manchester. The railway companies ran intensive passenger and freight services to connect the thriving industries and towns along the highly-developed trans-Pennine corridor. The Leeds and Liverpool canal, roads and tramways provided specialised services which complemented railways well in a sophisticated "transport-scape". Accrington was a railway town which experienced exponential growth during the mid and late Victorian eras. Its industries became both increasingly diversified and specialised, its economic base was independent yet interdependent as intra-regional and inter-regional trade and business networks grew rapidly, the rail hub organised the structure of urbanisation. Within the sub-region, multiple nuclei of growth emerged suddenly and rapidly without urban precursors during the railway era. There were no significant commuting flows or suburban developments. These striking phenomena cannot be explained by conventional approaches such as metropolitan central-place theory and cliometric counter-factual modelling. W.W. Rostow's "take-off' and F.J.Turner's "frontier" concepts are selectively rehabilitated, re-interpreted and synthesised to build an innovatory framework to describe and explain the observable patterns in East Lancashire. The theoretical synthesis is briefly applied to case-studies from northern England to explore the widely diverse impact of railway investments, and to highlight the potential for an extended comparative research agenda. Mark A. Haydock, July 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THESIS page List of Tables, Maps, Diagrams, Graphs, Illustrations 3 Acknowledgements 5 List of Rail-related Abbreviations & Terms in Thesis 7 Preface to Thesis 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 12 Scope and context of historical issues 12 Conceptual and methodological approach 27 Structure of the thesis 32 Chapter 2: Selective Review of Secondary Literature on 33 Linkages between Railways and Development Local and regional historiography 34 General literature on economic development 38 Literature on British urbanisation and urban geographical models 46 Popular railway literature 51 Railway business history 55 Chapter 3: Industrialisation Patterns in the Accrington area, 1840s-1914 60 Industrial structure 60 Cotton textiles 65 Coal mining 72 Mechanical engineering 78 Brick making 87 Chapter 4: Urbanisation Patterns in Accrington and "Hyndburn" District, 93 1840s-1914 Census evidence for demographic trends in Accrington and beyond 93 Cartographical evidence of Accrington's growth 101 Institutional development in and around Accrington 110 Accrington as a Railway Town 121 Chapter 5: Local Railway Companies in East Lancashire: 127 Some Institutional Responses, 1844-1914 The formative stage, 1844-1846 129 The ELR era, 1846-1859 139 Amalgamation and beyond, 1859-1914 152 S Chapter 6: Trade and Traffic Patterns in East Lancashire, 1840s-1914 162 Prospectus and related evidence of the local micro-companies 164 Traffic surveys of the micro-companies 169 Traffic returns for the East Lancashire Railway 172 Working and public timetable evidence 178 Indirect evidence of railway traffic trends 181 Traffic on other transport modes 185 Chapter 7: A New Theoretical Framework for the Development of 197 East Lancashire in the Railway Age, 1848-1914 Rostow's "take-off' in East Lancashire 201 Turner's frontier thesis and its relevance to East Lancashire 208 Integration of Rostow and Turner into new developmental framework 213 Inter-urban relational patterns in East Lancashire 215 Intra-urban structure in Accrington 217 Complex industrialisation patterns in East Lancashire 219 Impact of the railway frontier on economic growth or decline 221 Some comparisons from beyond East Lancashire 223 Chapter 8: Conclusion 232 Summary of the evidence of development in Accrington and district 233 Synthesis of the evidence of the local developmental path 239 Methodological implications of the evidence of local development 241 Theoretical implications of the local developmental process 242 A comparative research agenda for developmental issues 245 Bibliography 251 Primary Sources: Unpublished Manuscript 251 Primary Sources: Printed or Published 252 Secondary Sources: Published Books 255 Secondary Sources: Journal and Book Articles 260 Secondary Sources: Theses and Dissertations 262 Appendices 263 Appendix A: Chronology of cotton textiles sites in Accrington area, 1780-1914 264 Appendix B: Extract from Baines' Diredory entries for Whalley parish, 1825 265 Appendix C: Prospectus of the Extension Railway (BB & AER), May 1844 266 Appendix D: OS maps for Accrington area, 1:10560 scale, c. 1845-1909 269 LIST OF TABLES, MAPS, DIAGRAMS, GRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS Tables: page Tab. 3.1: Occupational Structure of Accrington (Old and New), 1851 61 Tab. 3.2: Male Employment Structure in Accrington and Hyndburn, 1901 63 Tab. 3.3: Female Employment Structure in Accrington and Hyndbum, 1901 63 Tab. 3.4: Chronology of Cotton Textiles Development in Accrington Area 67 Tab. 3.5: Cost Structure of Bury Brothers' Union & Fountain Mills, 1907-1914 71 Tab. 3.6: Martholme Colliery Sales, around Great Harwood, 1 June 1866 77 Tab. 33: Howard & Bulloughs' Expenditures and Sales, 1893-1907 86 Tab. 4.1: Census totals for Accrington and Hyndbum Townships, 1801-1931 94 Tab. 4.2: Summary of Census Sample Results for Accrington in 1851 97 Tab. 4.3: Selected Population Totals within Lancashire, 1801-1911 98 Tab. 4.4: Age & Gender Composition of Selected East Lancashire Towns in 1891 100 Tab. 4.5: Data Extracts from Whalley parish in Baines' 1825 Directory 104 Tab. 5.1: Shareholders attending Extension Railway Meeting, July 1844 130 Tab. 5.2: Shareholders attending MB & P.R General Meeting, Oct. 1844 131 Tab. 5.3: Attendance List at Extension Railway Meeting, Aug. 1844 132 Tab. 5.4: Provisional Committees of three Micro-Companies in Prospectuses 133 Tab. 5.5: Attendance Lists of ELR Shareholders' Meetings, 1849 & 1859 168 Tab. 5.6: Half-Year Financial Results of ELR, 1846-1858 148 Tab. 6.1: Greenwood's Traffic Survey for the Extension Railway, 1844 170 Tab. 6.2: Greenwood's other Traffic Surveys for BB & AER and B & PR, 1845 171 Tab. 6.3: The ELR's Receipts & Sources of Revenue, 1846-1 858 Accounts 174 Tab. 6.4: Composition of ELR's Passenger Traffic, 1847-1858, L & YR, 1859 176 Tab. 6.5: Goods Services of ELR and L & YR around Accrington, 1858-1905 179 Tab. 6.6: Passenger Services of ELR and L &YR around Accrington, 1848-1910 180 Tab. 6.7: Summary of Regular Stage Coach Services in East Lancs, 1828-1848 192 Tab. 6.8: Traffic Statistics for Accrington Corporation Tramways, 1907-1918 194 3 Figures: Fig. 1.1: Edwardian Map of East Lancashire, between Accrington and Manchester 20 Fig. 1.2: Schematic Map of Economic Zones in Victorian Lancashire 23 Fig. 1.3: The L & YR Railway Network in East Lancashire, c. 1914 27 Fig. 3.1: Comparison ofAccrington's Industrial Structure, 1851 & 1901 61 Fig. 3.2: Shoe Mill site, Baxenden (EDINA Digimap) 69 Fig. 3.3: Industrial Railways around Huncoat (EDNA Digirnap) 74 Fig. 3.4: Howard & Bulloughs' Half-Yearly Transport Payments 87 Fig. 3.5: Accrington Brickworks Rail System (EDNA Digimap) 89 Fig. 4.1: Extract from Yates' Map of Lancashire, c. 1786 102 Fig. 4.2: Extract from Greenwood's Map of Lancashire, c. 1818 103 Fig. 4.3: OS Survey of 1844-46, Acerington (EDNA Digimap) 105 Fig. 4.4: 05 Survey of 1890-91, Accrington (EDNA Digimap) 106 Fig. 4.5: Accrington's Townscape, July 2009 (author's image) 108 Fig. 4.6: Railway Bridge atNuttall Street, Woodnook, c. 1920s 108 Fig 4.7: 05 Survey of 1909, Accrington (EDNA Digimap) 109 Fig. 4.8: Accrington Town Hall, Blackburn Rd, July 2009 (author's image) 114 Fig. 4.9: The Coat of Arms of the Borough of Accrington from 1878 114 Fig. 5.1: Historical and Contemporary Illustrations of Accrington Viaduct 142 Fig.