The "how they were powered" was quite important in the magnitude of many of those changes though. "Although some were driven by animal power, most early mills

The "how they were powered" was quite important in the magnitude of many of those changes though. "Although some were driven by animal power, most early mills were built in rural areas at fast-flowing rivers and streams using water wheels for power.[3] The development of viable steam engines by Boulton and Watt from 1781 led to the growth of larger, steam-powered mills allowing them to be concentrated in urban mill towns, like Manchester, which with neighbouring Salford had more than 50 mills by 1802.[4]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_mill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_mill