ABSTRACT
ST. HELENS owes its economic growth to the industries that have already been considered: to coal; to the furnace industries, glass, copper and—in the future—alkali; and to brewing. Unlike many other towns in Lancashire, cotton was of little importance. Although the Poor Law records of Parr in the middle of the eighteenth century mention some spinning and weaving of cotton by hand both in the workhouse and at home, linen weaving was much more in evidence; sailcloth, in particular, was at that time a most important product of south-west Lancashire. 1 Attempts were eventually made to weave sailcloth and spin cotton on a factory scale at St. Helens but neither of these manufactures took root. They were not a natural growth in the Merseyside region.
