shipley was shaped largely by the industrial revolution and, in particular, the growth of the textile industry. textile manufacture dates from pre-industrial times. as the place name indicates, shipley had a history as sheep grazing land, so wool was plentiful, and the river aire was a ready source of water for powering water mills and cleaning processes. there was a fulling mill in shipley by 1500 and two more by 1559. another mill was built by the dixon family on the banks of the aire in 1635. new mill on the far side of hirst wood was built in the 1740s and by the late 18th century between 9,000 and 10,000 pieces of broadcloth were being fulled annually at shipley's mills. much work was undertaken in workers' cottages which had 'loomshops' for spinning yarn. home workshops were once a common sight along the river aire and often had external flights of steps. examples can be seen in the cottages at jane hills along the canal in saltaire.