[5] Farming was the main industry of this rural area, with locals supplementing their incomes with hand-loom woolen weaving in the domestic system.

[6] [7][8] The construction of more mills followed, which initiated a process of urbanisation and socioeconomic transformation in the region; the population moved away from farming, adopting employment in the factory system.

[9] Thus, the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution facilitated a process of unplanned urbanisation in the area, and by the mid-19th century Royton had emerged as a mill town.

[4] Neighbouring Oldham (which by the 1870s had emerged as one of the largest and most productive mill towns in the world)[10] had begun to encroach upon Royton's southern boundary, forming a continuous urban cotton-spinning district.

As imports of cheaper foreign yarns increased during the mid-20th century, Royton's textile sector declined gradually to a halt; cotton spinning reduced in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the early 1980s only four mills were operational.

[12][14] Today, fewer than a dozen mills are still standing in Royton, the majority of which are used for light engineering or as distribution centres.

[14] Despite an economic depression brought about by the demise of cotton spinning, Royton's population has continued to grow as a result of intensive housing redevelopment which has modernised its former Edwardian districts.

Driven by a 1700 hp cross compound engine by Urmson & Thompson, 1908 similar to the one in Mars Mill, Castleton.