Abstract
‘The pre-Industrial Revolution, 1500–1700’ uses the cloth industry in Witney, a small Oxfordshire market town, as an example of the many themes of both the pre- and main Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, the technology changed and so did the organization of work, but these changes did not benefit the workforce. Despite the decline in employment and real wages, the woven blanket industry remained the economic basis of the town for two more centuries. England’s success in the global economy had important effects beyond the growth of cities and rural manufacturing. These include the agricultural revolution, the coal revolution, the high wage economy, and the expansion of literacy.
