Iron, Coal and Steam

This trio is perhaps one of the biggest factors that explains why Quarry Bank Mill was so successful.  At the time of Quarry Bank Mill, the price of iron and coal was cheaper then before.  This made it easier to afford  new machines that used coal and iron.  

Steam engines used the cheaper coal to heat water to create steam.  The pressure of the steam was used to move a piston which ran the new machines.

In 1766, James Watt, a Scottish engineer, made big improvements in the design of steam engines.  These improvements in the steam engine made them more powerful while at the same time burn less coal.

In 1781, he also found a way to get a steam engine to turn a wheel.  This meant that steam engines could be used in factories instead of water wheels.

This steam engine that he invented was made possible because of two big developments:

s

Development 1

In 1709, a man named Abraham Darby found a way of making cast iron using coke, which was made from coal.  This was a important breakthrough. Before this, Iron had been made from charcoal.  By the 18th century, charcoal was becoming scarce and very expensive.  In 1784, a man named Henry Cort invented a new way of making wrought-iron in a huge coal fired furnace.   This made it cheaper to make iron.  The new well-made iron machinery was essential for the machinery used in factories.

Development 2

The new factories depended on coal because it was coal which fuelled the steam engines and the iron foundries.

The main idea in both of those developments is that iron makes coal more important and vice versa.