Chorley and South Ribble History Pages

The river Lostock is a small river, barely more than a stream, that winds for eight miles from its source in the hills near Wheelton to a junction with the river Yarrow near Croston. It is an unprepossessing feature in the landscape, sometimes hemmed in by urban development and flood prevention walls. In the 18 th and early 19 th centuries, by contrast, it was the catalyst for the growth of the cotton textile industry in the South Ribble area. In this article I will consider the role of waterpower in the development of the cotton industry in this part of Lancashire. I will also look at the ways that mill builders harnessed the river Lostock to power the corn and cotton mills that developed along its banks. Well, some of them anyway. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of the 1840s shows no fewer than ten water-powered mills (eight cotton factories and two corn mills ) along the Lostock’s eight mile course. I won’t try to discuss them all in depth, but will concentrate on t...

By the end of the 19 th century, three quarters of the world’s cotton textiles were being produced in Lancashire. The majority of those textiles were manufactured in the south-east corner of Lancashire, in a triangle roughly bounded by Manchester, Preston and Burnley. There were several reasons why this little area became so dominant. It had easy access to the port of Liverpool, where most raw cotton was imported from North America. It had a moist, cool climate which was ideal for working cotton. There were fast-flowing streams and rivers that in the early days powered waterwheels and plentiful supplies of coal that later fuelled the ubiquitous factory steam engines. Perhaps most importantly, there was a long history of textile production in the area. The predominant form of agriculture was pastoral, which was not labour intensive. Farming families had the time and motivation to boost their income by making cloth from wool, linen and fustian (which had linen warp and cotton weft). T...