Away from the Water

Although there are abundant accounts from historical contemporaries that describe the power and influence of the physical environment on peoples everday lives, the role of the physical environment on earlier industrialisation processes in Britain remains poorly understood and often dismissed relative to other contributing social and economic factors. 

This theme of our research investigates how historic climate and the shapes of landscapes and rivers influenced the distribution and longevity of various mill sites across Britain before and through the first energy transition.