Industrialisation and an early modern town: Broseley in Shropshire 1600-1820

Hudson, Stephen Charles (2017). Industrialisation and an early modern town: Broseley in Shropshire 1600-1820. University of Birmingham. M.A.

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Abstract

This work is the first attempt to analyse, assess and evaluate the broad process of industrialisation in Broseley, Shropshire between 1600 and c.1820. The thesis is a study of historical processes of growth, development and, ultimately the beginning of decline of a small industrial urban settlement above the Severn Gorge on the southern margins of the east Shropshire coalfield. These historical processes, socio-economic in character, are shown to interact and produce an early industrial town, possessing certain characteristics, features and traditions, unusual if not unique in a settlement of this nature. A variety of source material – primary documentary, archaeological/field and secondary – is used to examine the origins and growth of three groups of industries - mining, iron and ceramics - and the social fabric and stratification that were both the cause and consequence of their development. Collateral aspects of industrialisation - the land market, proto-industry and the transport and communications infrastructure - are also assessed for their significance in Broseley’s industrial past. Broseley has not received as much focus from historians as other industrial townships on the east Shropshire coalfield. This thesis establishes the township’s distinctive contribution to the economic development of the district derived from its diverse industrial experience.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.A.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.A.

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