From 1750-1900 British towns changed rapidly and it was a change for the better
In 1750 only 20% of Britain’s population lived in towns. This was because the other 80% were farmers who lived in small villages and supported themselves, as each farmer had their own strip of land to farm, this was called ‘the open-field system’ but as the population grew more food was needed to feed the extra people and so ‘the enclosure system’ was developed, this meant that less farmers were needed as the new larger fields opened up opportunity for new modern machinery. This meant the growing population were looking for jobs other than farming. By 1830 50% of the population lived in towns.
Because of the now much larger population, more products were needed to clothe them, feed them etc and because so many more people were living in towns, new factories began to emerge, initially it was wool mills which replaced the old system of people spinning their own wool and then weaving it themselves, now it was all mass produced in the factories by machines. In 1750 they had man-powered pulley system lifts to carry people into the mines but with the invention of the circular-motion steam engine in 17** by James Watts they transport the coal and miners much more quickly up and down the mine shaft. And with the new large demand for coal in the new factories, and the increased population trying to travel around the country in ever more luxury and speed this posed the question of how to quickly transport it around the country. The first answer to this was the canals, which was the fastest and most reliable form of transport at the time; it could also carry more goods than the horse and cart. By 1825, built by George Stevenson, the first railway opened between Stockton and Darlington. This was very successful and was soon making a profit and so railways began to spread across the country. Because of the trains speed and ability to carry much more goods than any previous form of transport it meant that the growth in industry in towns could continue.
