Cotton Mill

A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution.

Cotton mills, and the mechanisation of the spinning process, were instrumental in the growth of the machine tool industry, enabling the construction of larger cotton mills. The requirement for water helped stimulate the construction of the canal system, and the need for power the development of steam engines. Limited companies were developed to construct the mills. This led to the trading floors of the cotton exchange of Manchester, which in its turn created a vast commercial city. The mills also created additional employment, drawn largely from rural areas, leading to the expansion of local urban populations and the consequent need for additional housing. In response, mill towns with municipal governments were created. The mills provided independent incomes for girls and women. Child labour was used in the mills, and the factory system led to organised labour. Poor conditions in cotton mills became the subject of exposés, and in England, the Factory Acts were written to regulate them. The cotton mill was originally a Lancashire phenomenon that then was copied in New England and later in the southern states of America. In the 20th century, North West England lost its supremacy to the United States, then India and then China. In the 21st century, redundant mills have been accepted as part of a country's industrial heritage.