From about AD 1750, England experienced a revolution in industry and manufacturing. Expanding overseas trade and a small increase in population helped, but the greatest boost came from a series of key inventions in science and engineering. The ready interchange of ideas between inventors and manufacturers was also crucial to the success of this industrial revolution. The potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95), for example, provided utensils for the chemistry experiments of Joseph Priestly (1733-1804).

Cotton manufacturers were among the first to develop new inventions. Cotton spinning machines such as water-frame (1769) of Richard Arkwright (1732-92), the ‘spinning jenny’ (1770) of James Hargreaves (1720-78), and the spinning ‘mule’ (1779) of Samuel Crompton (1753-1827) revolutionised the production of thread, and made large-scale manufacturing possible.

The Darby family of Coalbrookdale in Shropshire developed the process of smelting iron with coal, which led to improvements in metallurgy. Men like the great ironmaster John Wilkinson (1736-1808) built on their work: he provided Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) and James Watt (1736-1819) with the high-quality cylinders used for their steam engines.

The efficient production of steam power and improved methods of iron-working made possible the great engineering feats of the 19th century – the railways, bridges, steam ships and iron-framed buildings of the great Victorian engineers.