ABSTRACT
After the upheavals of the various revolutions, the Northeast settled down into the social and economic patterns which, in the main, still obtain today. The modern period begins round about 1830. By this date the switchover from domestic to factory employment had brought about the final decay of the woollen and linen industries; and with the disappearance of these rural industries, the Northeast became once more a predominantly agricultural area. The development of communications, however, had broken down for good the old isolation, as the building of roads, canals, harbours and railways opened up the area and brought it into closer contact with the rest of Britain. Within the region, the simple settlement pattern of burghs and fermtouns was superseded by the modern pattern of city, towns, villages, farms and crofts. And this diversified pattern of settlement reflects the diversified nature of society as a whole; it was no longer a simple, homogeneous society, but a complex, diversified, modern society.
