ABSTRACT
During the 300 years under review, as in the preceding centuries, most industry was based upon the towns. However, some industrial development naturally took place in the countryside and in mineral-yielding areas, for example, agriculture and industry were ancient bedfellows. Indeed, in such places it is difficult to ascertain whether the development of settled agriculture preceded or followed the mining of such minerals as tin, lead, copper, iron, stone and chalk. Many of the major English cities including London, Norwich, Bristol and York were engaged in the manufacture of woollen cloth in the later Middle Ages. During the period under review, four other textile industries flourished at various times and to various extents, namely the weaving of linen, hemp, lace, and silk. During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, water power increasingly became the basis of industrial development and entrepreneurs placed very high reliance on water resources generally.
