FACTORIES/ INDUSTRY

In the eighteenth century, a series of inventions transformed the manufacture of cotton in England and gave rise to a new mode or production -- the factory system. During these years, other branches of industry effected comparable advances, and all these together, mutually reinforcing one another, made possible further gains on an ever-widening front. The abundance and variety of these innovations almost defy compilation, but they may be subsumed under three principles: the substitution of machines -- rapid, regular, precise, tireless -- for human skill and effort; the substitution of inanimate for animate sources of power, in particular, the introduction of engines for converting heat into work, thereby opening to man a new and almost unlimited supply of energy
‘David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus

England was a rural agricultural country, where industry was far less important than agriculture to the economy. Tin, lead and coal mining were some of the few industries the country had, and they were located in the North of England. All of that changed during the industrial revolution when England shifted to an industrial factory driven society. England changed from being a series of regional economies largely isolated from one another to being an integrated national economy. And, London became the center of English culture and Industry.

INDUSTRIAL LONDON
Factories around the Thames.

The Thames was the center of London’s industry. Factories were built around the Thames because of its ports and trading status. Factories needed to be close to were goods would be imported and exported. There was also a booming population around the river, supplying an abundant source of workers. The industrial revolution had sparked a new age of innovation and progress bringing a new modern Europe filled with new inventions. The steam engine was built in 1705 by Thomas Newcomen and was a new source of power. It had both heat energy from coal and mechanical energy from the steam, and was an efficient use of power. The steam engine lead the way to rapid growth in London between 1780 and 1830. Another invention with helped industrialization progress was Henry Cort’s puddling and rolling press, which made cheap iron out of England’s abundant supply of coal. With these new inventions came the demand for good finished products, manufactured expeditiously from new mass-producing machines. With an increase of population and more than half of the English people living in cities, demand for both products and jobs increased. There was a new concentrated work force, which created the working class and the new factory owning bourgeoisie. Such a large population bought many more mouths to feed, Britain's farmers had to feed the fast-growing population. The agricultural revolution provided four-course rotation crops, which contributed to a healthier diet for British workers.

The river made it possible for London to become an industrial center because of its prime location. With trade links all around the world, factories needed to be placed as close as they could to the river. New factories broughtnew jobs and money, which all lead to the economic boost of power of the city.