No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
Edmund Cartwright patented the power loom in 1785. It took decades of improvement before it became practical and widespread.
About credit
Cartwright’s first loom was not commercially successful. Later engineers, such as William Horrocks and Richard Roberts, made the power loom practical.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before the Power Loom
Weavers worked hand looms at home, and weaving was skilled, steady, slow work.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Cartwright built a loom driven by a horse, then a steam engine. Later models improved the shuttle, warp control and stopping. By the 1830s tens of thousands of power looms were at work in Britain.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
The Power Loom, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Three motions
A loom lifts alternate threads, passes the shuttle through, and presses the weft into place. Power looms perform these steps in sequence automatically.
Three motions
Power from a shaft
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Workers
Handloom weavers saw wages fall and many lost work.
Industry
Cloth could be made at scale, driving the growth of mill towns.
Together with mechanical spinning, it made cloth cheap and shifted weaving from homes to factories.
V
Before and after
Life before and after The Power Loom
Before
A skilled weaver at home.
After
An operator tending several looms in a mill.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
VI
Its legacy
What came after
MHI 054
The Power Loom
Beyond the collection
The Jacquard Loom
Punched cards controlled patterns, an influence on computing.
Beyond the collection
Automation
The factory system spread to other industries.
VII
Human stories
The people and the moments
The Luddites
Between 1811 and 1816, groups of English textile workers broke machines to protest wages and working conditions. The movement was suppressed and some were executed.
Where accounts differ, this museum follows the documented record and says so.
