Greg’s first choice for a mill was probably Manchester but land was difficult to obtain and when it did become available it was snapped up quickly and also was very expensive. Greg also had Manchester business contacts and wanted his mill to be to close proximity to Manchester. Greg also realises that Arkwright’s patent was about to expire which led him to the site for Quarry Bank Mill. Also a change in fashion from wool and silk to cotton cloth meant that the cotton industry was booming. Anyone with money to invest realised profits could be made in the cotton industry.
Why would a businessman choose to start a business in such an isolated area like Styal?
Samuel Greg observed the land and knew that the conditions for cotton spinning were ideal in the damp humid climate. There was also less competition in the country side and also there was a lot of building material available at Styal such as a sandstone quarry and surrounding woodland. To my visit to the mill I looked that the interior structural design was wooden and this was provided by the surrounding woodland of the mill.
The main attraction that led Greg was the reliable sources of energy and this was water. In 1784 there were three kinds of power supply,
The horse was not reliable because it got tired and the wind was very unpredictable, however the water was very reliable mainly because it gave a constant flow of energy and this was indeed a massive benefit for the cotton spinning factory.
In the 1800s water power remained the key factor in choosing a mill site. Mills were built at the turn of the century were concentrated around the district of Manchester where there was plenty of fast-flowing rivers.
Styal was situated at the edge of a fast flowing river known as “The River Bollin.”
As you can see from the source booklet provided, source 10 clearly shows that at the edge of Styal there is a river running in to the Bridgewater Canal which was built in 1773 which links up to several other rivers. Water was also the cheapest form of transport and this meant that raw materials that were imported from the main ports (i.e. Manchester and Liverpool) could be transported to Styal in a boat. Also the only means of reliable power was wind and water. Arkwright’s water frame was the only commercial machine. The River Bollin was ideal to power this machine- it had a natural 15 foot drop which provided fast flowing water. Furthermore, to my recent visit I saw that there was enough land on the site to build a reservoir and a mill pond to store as back up water for the hot summer that passed by.
Another reason why Quarry Bank Mill was built on this site was that the land and the location was isolated which meant that the land was cheap and the marsh land which also meant that farmers didn’t want it because the soil wasn’t good enough because it wasn’t fertile to grow crops on. A consequence of this was that the Earl of Stamford rented it cheaply to Greg- £50 down shillings which at that time was relatively cheap.
Also the dissolution of Arkwright’s patent and his spinning patent was about to expire in 1783, obviously this to be an important consideration, the time was right, obviously the risk involved in using water frames before the patent had expired would have been an inhibiting influence. “The distribution of Arkwright’s patent and the invention of the mule, concurred to give the most extraordinary impetus to the cotton manufacture… numerous mills were erected, and filled with water-frames… and set to work with almost incredible rapidity,” this has been quoted from source 7 in the booklet showing extract from history of the cotton manufacture in great Britain by Edward Baines in 1835. This quote shows that Arkwright invented a great innovation, something that made the market of cloth boom and this is what led Samuel Greg in the business of profit making.
The damp Cheshire Climate was ideal when handling raw cotton fibre and if cotton fibre allowed to dry out, the whole process of spinning was not possible because the thread would become weak and starts snapping. One of the perpetual problems in a cotton mill was the cotton threads snapping when they became dried out. The Cheshire region had a damp climate which helped alleviate this problem.
The availability of raw materials for building the mill was in Styal. Styal was close sandstone quarries, clay pits, and forests all useful in providing Greg with stone, bricks and timber, which was important and indeed was essential in the construction of this mill.
Building material for a factory that was built gave a great boost to other industries, brick-making, iron-making and glass- making industries all boomed during this period. Building the mills provided jobs for thousands of workers.
In the 1783 the ending of the American War of Independence led an improvement in trade and cotton. Greg was one of the firsts to bring in shipments from America. In the 1780 most cotton coming onto the country came from London but late in the 1780’s Liverpool started to grow as a port. By the end of the eighteenth century nearly fifty percent of all cloth manufacture was being exported to Africa and the west Indies, so Liverpool was very useful to Greg and Styal was in close proximity about thirty miles away.
The mill would need workers and cheap labour derived from the availability of children. Greg was aware that pauper children could be employed at the mill. He obtained a good many Newcastle people and from an area within the pottery industry where adults’ mortality was high so this meant there was a lot of pauper children.
As a successful businessman concerned with maximising his profits, economic factors was rated most highly with Greg. I think that he increased the demand of cotton as he had all the services needed to run his own factory which was very successful and made millions of turnover every year and increased revenue by selling cotton to the whole world.
However, I think the need for a suitable water source to power the factory that made the belts run was Greg’s most important priority and consideration and the existence of the River Bollin at Styal was probably the main deciding factor because without it he had no means of running his machines which created the cloth and therefore made vast amounts of profits.
