Mill Town - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the term "mill town" often refers to the 19th century textile-manufacturing towns of northern England and the Scottish Lowlands, particularly those in Lancashire (cotton) and Yorkshire (wool). Manchester was bestowed with the name Cottonopolis as its immediate region was considered a metropolis of cotton processing mills. One of the most famous references to the early mills was in the poem/hymn "Jerusalem" by William Blake, in which "those dark satanic mills" were used to symbolise the injustice that a new Jerusalem ought to replace.

The British textile industry never fully recovered after the Great Depression, and its decline continued after the Second World War when it was unable to compete with the growing Indian textile industry. It is said that Gandhi was jeered when he visited mill towns on his 1931 tour of Britain, as many locals blamed his policies for causing unemployment. There are still a minority of mills left in operation today however. In addition, many mill buildings have conservation orders on them, and some have been converted into blocks of flats.

The term mill town has seen something of a revival in the British media since the debate over relations between whites and Asians began in the aftermath of riots in several mill towns. The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the Pennines that suffer from sometimes significant racial tension. Many mill towns in northern England are known today as "mill and mosque towns" because of the large number of British Pakistani Muslims who live there.

Bradford has seen several riots in recent years whilst Burnley, Dewsbury and Oldham have all had suffered one riot each (see Oldham Riots and Bradford Riot). After the Second World War, thousands of migrants from both the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent settled in the mill towns to fill the labour shortage in the industry; they often moved to the traditional working-class areas whilst the White working-class moved out to the newly built estates after the war.

Many mill towns have a symbol of the textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may also have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g. Colne ) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School).

The list below includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was also a key industry in Wigan and Leigh in Greater Manchester, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.