Publication Account

Date 1985

Event ID 1016540

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016540

RCAHMS: Exploring Scotland's Places - The Clyde Estuary and Central Region, 1985

The village of New Lanark has justifiably been described as 'the outstanding industrial monument in Scotland', for it not only contains an unrivalled collection oflate 18th century and early 19th century mills, workers' houses and public buildings, but was also the scene of Robert Owen's famous attempt to humanise the industrial revolution. The mills remained in use until 1968, after which they rapidly became derelict but were saved from demolition by the New Lanark Conservation and Civic Trust The Trust co-ordinated the efforts of several interested groups and the majority of the work of restoration has been carried out by local unemployed youngsters. One of the first projects they tackled was the renovation of the Nursery Buildings, which subsequently won a Scottish Civic Trust award. Over the last ten years the village has been slowly brought back to life and now has a growing residential population supported by a number of small industries.

The original mills were established on the banks of the Clyde in 1784 to harness the power of the river and were founded by David Dale (a Glasgow banker) and his partner Richard Arkwright (the pioneer of mechanical spinning). By 1798, when Robert Owen was appointed manager, the village was already a thriving concern forming the largest collection of cotton mills in Scotland. During the next twenty years Owen expanded the work of the mills and introduced a series of radical social reforms, which greatly improved working conditions and turned New Lanark into a showplace drawing 20,000 visitors between 1815 and 1825.

Owen's concern for the well being, and therefore efficiency, of the workforce is reflected in the buildings erected during his period of management. In 1809 the Nursery was built to house 300 pauper apprentices who until then had been expected to sleep in the mill beside their machines. Four years later, in 1813, the Store was opened to improve the standard of goods available to the workers; it was run on co-operative lines and ensured that profiteering did not occur. One of Owen's principal interests was education, and two buildings commemorate this. The institute for the Formation of Character (1816) served as library, reading room, canteen, dancehall and place of worship; it was open to all the staff and their families, filling the function of a modem community centre. Equally important was the School, founded in 1817, which was Scotland's first school for infants. Other buildings of note are the Counting House and the New Buildings.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).