In some ways, this is an accurate interpretation of what happened to Royton during industrialisation and can be relied upon in that Taylor witnessed the changes in Royton and believed that they were bad. Yet, it is only his opinion therefore can only be relied upon to a certain extent, e.g. a mill owner would have really thrived during the industrialisation, making a lot of money out of it and becoming very wealthy therefore only seeing the advantages of the textile industry.
‘Thy plains now sullied by the smoking hills’
Here Taylor shows that during the 1830s, many mills were built around Royton. This increase in the number of mills described by Taylor can be supported with evidence. For example, by 1860 there were 13 steam driven mills in Royton. The use of the word ‘smoking’ also suggests that Taylor believed that these mills were damaging the environment through the steam going into the surroundings, polluting the area he lived in.
‘Since that poor cot on ivy mantle wore,
Which now displays an antique rushy roof.’
The increase in mills also meant that more people were moving into Royton to work in the textile industry explaining the increase in population. The mill owners needed quick, easy and cheap ways of providing housing for workers so they built rows of terraced housing throughout Royton. Taylor might have seen these newly built houses for the workers and their families and thought that they ruined the view of the rural town. The poet could see the change from beautiful, big country cottages to the small, brick houses and probably believed that they were much uglier and would spoil the look of Royton.
In verse four, Taylor writes that since these changes occurred, Royton Park changed for the worse,
‘The Park no more is filled with timid deer’
This suggests that as a result of the textile industry during the 19th century, the wildlife in Royton Park had completely gone. This is suggested earlier in verse two,
‘No bird with music now the valley fills’
Yet, although we know that when Park Road was built in 1832, Royton built up more around that area with more housing built on the park for the ever-growing population, his interpretation of the decline in wildlife is rather exaggerated and inaccurate as there is no hard evidence to prove that what he is saying is correct. Therefore, we cannot rely on these descriptions to prove that industrialisation in Royton impacted on the environment.
There is also evidence that after Taylor died (1863) the amount of mills doubled from 13 – 26 at a greater rate causing a dramatic impact on the environment. Therefore, of James Taylor had only seen half of the industrialisation of Royton and describes it as ‘disfigured’ could he have been exaggerating slightly. The poem gives off a really negative view of the change whereas this was only half of what was to come making me unsure of whether James Taylor’s view is accurate enough to provide sufficient evidence of the changes within Royton during the 19th century.
Overall, I think this poem does help me to understand what happened to Royton during industrialisation because it gives a first-hand view of a man living through the time and witnessing what happened. James Taylor gives his own personal but also quite biased opinion of what changed in Royton during his lifetime. It tells me that the growth in population and mills affected many people as well as the environment and possibly the wildlife, even though there isn’t enough evidence to back this.
On the other hand, the poem does not help me to understand the views of other people e.g. factory workers and owners, miners, etc. and the impact and effect on their lives rather than just that of Taylor’s. I believe that their opinions would differ to that of James Taylor and possibly a more positive opinion towards industrialisation. This I believe to be the most important reason of why I think that Taylor’s poem does not reflect what really happened during industrialisation and is inaccurate.
