Industrialisation brought about the widespread use of factories, around which towns and cities developed. Many of the factories of the industrial age remain intact today and can be visited to make your understanding clearer.

Factories developed simply because the new machinery that was developed in the Industrial Revolution was too large to fit into small buildings and was more efficiently used in a new type of building. Ideally the factory owner could house all of the elements of his manufacturing process in one building, reducing the cost of producing goods and the time it took to make these goods.

Different parts of Britain saw the growth of different types of Manufacturing industries. Coalbrookdale is famed for its Iron works, the Pennines for wool and cotton manufacturing, the area around Stoke is still referred to as being the 'Potteries' today. These areas built up due to close proximity to raw materials, the intended market for the produce and to ports. Each areas population grew rapidly as impoverished agricultural workers sought a new life and guaranteed work in the apparently prosperous cities.

Click here for examples of Factories and the towns that grew up around them.