Technological Change

Quarry Bank Mill was so successful because Samuel Greg wanted to use spinning frames as these would spin cotton more quickly and this would make cotton cheaper.  As the prices of mass produced cotton were going down, the people in the domestic system were having great problems.  Nobody bought their goods anymore since the factory produced cotton was low-priced as it was made using larger, machines which were cheap to run.  It was impossible to house the new machines in cottages and small workshops.  So people in the domestic system were forced to move to the big cities to search for work.  Cotton was more available since the Americans started to grow it.  Steam engines became extremely profitable as they were fuelled with cheaper coal and better ways of making iron had been invented.  This discovery improved the machines which were used for spinning and weaving.  Quarry Bank Mill was so successful because from the 1830's it increased its profits by using weaving looms powered by steam.