This is the in-person registration option for this course!

Quarry Bank Mill, once the largest cotton spinning mill in England, still stands next to the River Bollin in rural Cheshire, close to the former ‘Cottonopolis’, Manchester, the first industrial city. Owned by the National Trust, the heritage and nature conservation organization, since 1939, Quarry Bank Mill was the creation of Samuel Greg, reputedly the richest man in England when he died in 1834.

This five-part course tells the story of Greg and four generations of his descendants who ran the family business until the spinning mules and looms stopped in 1959. Topics to be covered include: Greg learning the textile trade in Manchester; his marriage, move to Quarry Bank, and mill construction and expansion; powering the machines to spin cotton and weave cloth; workforce, working conditions, and paternalism; the expansion of the family business and his sons’ and grandson’s mixed experiences as cotton mill owners/operators; the demise of the business and the gift to the National Trust.

Course participants will gain an understanding of the industrial revolution and the rise and demise of English cotton textile manufacturing through a Quarry Bank Mill lens.

This course will be presented in a lecture format.