Bolton
Samuel Crompton invented spinning mule here 1779, enabling cotton revolution. Peak 216 mills in 1929; 8 remained by 1979. Flemish weavers arrived 1337. Now 108 mills survive in adapted uses.
Bolton invented the machine that made cotton king. In 1779, Samuel Crompton—born in a farmhouse here—created the spinning mule, a device that produced yarn finer and stronger than anything previously possible. The mule combined features of Hargreaves's spinning jenny and Arkwright's water frame; it made mass-produced cotton textiles economically viable.
The consequences were global. Cotton became Britain's largest export; Lancashire became the world's textile workshop; and Bolton grew rich supplying the machines and labor that spun raw fiber into fabric. By 1838, Bolton ranked among Lancashire's largest manufacturing towns. At its zenith in 1929, the borough contained 216 cotton mills and 26 bleaching and dyeing works—one of the most concentrated industrial landscapes ever created.
Flemish weavers had arrived as early as 1337, bringing spinning and weaving techniques. The Industrial Revolution supercharged this tradition. Investors exploited Bolton's fast-flowing streams to power mills that processed slave-grown cotton from America. The moral entanglement with slavery was direct: Bolton's prosperity depended on Southern plantations.
The collapse was rapid. In 1950, 103 cotton mills still operated; by 1979, only 8 remained. Competition from India and other low-wage producers made Lancashire textiles uncompetitive. Today, of 247 mills that operated in 1929, 108 survive in some form—as museums, housing, offices, or industrial units.
By 2026, Bolton's textile heritage serves as case study: the skills that launched an industrial revolution couldn't prevent its own obsolescence.