How Towns Have Arisen

Most villages and towns on the British Isles came into being because of their favourable situation for trade.

More than a hundred years ago, a great change came over the land when many machines began to be invented.

Spinning and weaving, for example, which had previously been done by hand, were now done by machinery that were driven by water or steam-power.

The work that usually was done in the houses of the people began to be carried out in large mills or factories, and workers found it convenient to live near them.

More and more factories were built and men and women left the country districts in great numbers and crowded into towns. Since then the movement of people into towns has been going on until now. England is dotted with great cities.

All over Britain, and especially in those parts where the coal needed for power is found, there are mining and manufacturing areas, such as the Lancashire cotton district, the Black county of Midland, and others.

A great many towns are found close together in those districts, and a great many people live within a small area, so that the population is very dense.