Spinning mule

What it is

A hybrid of the jenny and the water frame producing yarn that was both fine and strong, with a moving carriage that drew and twisted the thread. It allowed Britain to compete with Indian muslins.

Crompton did not patent the machine and received scarcely any compensation for it.

What it led to

• British dominance of the world cotton market
• Large steam-powered spinning mills in Manchester ('Cottonopolis')
• The deindustrialisation of Indian textiles
• Roberts's self-acting mule (1825) as a response to spinners' strikes

Built on

• Cylinder carding machine1748
• Spinning jennyc. 1764
• Water frame1769

Made possible

• Waltham integrated textile mill (Waltham-Lowell system)1814
• Ring spinning frame1828
• Self-acting mule (Richard Roberts, 1825)
• Industrial power loom

Links