ABSTRACT
Even before 1800 the district had reached a position of economic significance, and the manufactures of some of its chief towns were renowned throughout Europe. During the next century several new industries took root in the locality, attracted there either by the supplies of raw materials or by the skill of the ironworkers which could be directed towards the manufacture of new products, expressed both in iron and other metals. The eighteenth century, in confirming this tendency, brought about a great development in the economic activities of the area. In Birmingham, the gun trade was stimulated by the wars of the period. In addition to these developments within the older trades of Birmingham the later decades of the eighteenth century witnessed the introduction of several new manufactures. In South Staffordshire and North Worcestershire there had occurred even greater developments. In contrast to the expansion of the iron industry the manufacture of steel in neighbourhood actually declined during the eighteenth century.
