The Industrial Revolution, 1750–1914 · THE MAP AROUND c. 1820

Map of the Industrial Revolution in Europe around 1820

Coal, iron and the canal network

The Industrial Revolution in Europe around 1820: Coal, iron and the canal network. Since 1800, 2 territories changed status on this map: Belgium (Austrian Netherlands to 1795; independent 1830) and Switzerland.

What changes on the map

On the ground

• the Great Northern Coalfield in Northumberland and Durham, site of the world’s oldest large coal trade
• the Lancashire coalfield, whose coal fueled the cotton towns built above it
• the coalfield of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, stretching from Leeds to Nottingham
• the North Staffordshire coalfield beneath the Potteries
• the South Staffordshire coalfield, in the Black Country of iron, nails and chains
• the small Shropshire coalfield around Coalbrookdale, where coke iron began
• the South Wales coalfield, which served Merthyr’s ironworks and later supplied steam coal to the world’s navies
• the coalfields across Scotland’s central belt, from Ayrshire to Fife
• Cornwall’s copper and tin mines, kept dry by Watt’s pumping engines

The chapters of this moment

Related maps

• Every map of 1820
• Industrial Revolution maps by year
• Industrial Revolution timeline: every chapter