Lancashire: the Making of the Modern World - History, heritage, the arts, landscape

It’s a bold claim to credit a single English county with the ‘making of the modern world’. But the facts speak for themselves. Lancashire has punched above its weight and exerted an immense influence from the first canals and passenger railways, to the profound transformations of the global economy resulting from the cotton trade and Industrial Revolution, to the fields of atomic theory, popular music and broadcasting. 

From the Wars of the Roses through to the early modern period, England’s north-west axis never managed to rival the wealth and power of the southern counties nor Yorkshire, just next door. All that changed in the 18th century, however, when Liverpool began to develop its seaport. As a doorway to Ireland and the United States, the city played a seminal role in migration and colonisation and in Lancashire’s burgeoning salt, coal and cotton trades .

Manchester, late to the game, was all the more anxious to compete. During the 19th century, it would become a major transport nexus and the mercantile hub for raw cotton as well as finished goods, experiencing an exponential population growth. 

The rise of the two cities and dozens of densely inhabited towns transformed the county’s built environment and landscapes, and impacted every possible sphere of work and leisure. Lancashire was a testbed for model villages, industrial estates and factory complexes. Railway Mania led to the creation of seaside resorts and Wakes Weeks. The Labour movement grew out of a long history of unrest and collective protest. We will unlock this rich and textured social history through people, art and place.