Industrialisation would never have happened so rapidly if it wasn't for the rapid development of new ideas, methods and machinery. This page briefly describes a number of these inventions and provides links to pages that provide more detail about the inventions that formed the Industrial World.

The Spinning Jenny

The Spinning jenny was a machine that could spin threads of wool. It was invented by jasmes hargreaves in 1770 and initially could spin 8 threads at once. Hargreaves developed this machine to the extent that it could spin 120 threads at any one time. These machines were small enough to fit into cottages and rapidly increased production (by hand a person can only spin one thread at a time).

The Water Frame

Richard Arkwright patented the Water Frame in 1769. It had been designed by Thomas highs on his behalf. The Water frame was a large wheel that was turned by running water. This was then harnessed to turn cogs inside a factory which then made the machinery work. This invention led to the building of a number of factories and is regarded by some as being the catalyst of the Industrial Revolution.

The Steam Engine

The first steam powered devices were pumps. The first practical one being developed by Thomas Newcomen. This steam powered pump was used to not only pump water from mines but also to blow air into furnaces, and for pumping drinking water into towns.

James Watt's development of the steam engine led to a large number of further developments. using steam to create energy meant that this new form of powering a machine could be used anywhere, rather than just next to a stream/ river as with the Water Frame. The steam engine is best associated with the invention of trains but also was used to power machinery in factories, to power lifts in mines and for many other purposes.

The Locomotive (Train)

In 1801 Richard Trevithick developed a steam powered carriage that carried passengers on roads, he developed this idea further and in 1804 created the first locomotive to run on rails (ie the first train). He then demonstrated an updated version of his locomotive in london in 1808.

Trevithicks' ideas were developed by the George Stephenson. Stephenson was an engineer in the mining industry and had responsibility for the steam engines that pulled waggons up from the pit face. He rapidly developed these engines and built a locomotive in 1814. he then was appointed chief engineer of the first 'railway' between Stockton and Darlington and later built the famous 'Rocket' which ran on the Manchester to Liverpool line which opened in 1830.