The bustling, thriving burg of Hinckley has long been an essential part to the inner machinations of England and, with a population of almost fifty thousand hard working individuals, it is easy to imagine the well oiled machine of Britain to come stalling to a screeching halt without this indispensable town in the lovely county of Leicestershire. Recent evidence uncovered shows that Hinckley has in fact been a busy town for nearly a thousand years. The Domesday Book, that revolutionary census of England's state during the 1000s, reports Hinckley during 1086 as being a large village even in those days and its clout and reputation have only grown since.
For much of its life Hinckley was a market town of the sort that was very popular during medieval times but it was in the 1600s that the town truly set itself apart from the pack. Curiously enough, it wasn't coal or wool (two very popular industries during that time) but in fact hosiery that allowed Hinckley to grow into a powerhouse. At the time there was no place in England that could compare with the stockings and similar items that were coming out of Hinckley. Unfortunately, this boom happened at a most inopportune time. The English Civil War was raging during this period and Hinckley was forced to choose between fealty to the King or an allegiance with Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarians. The town was important to both parties and quite a bit of blood was shed between the two forces as they struggled for control of Hinckley. The residents of the town were no doubt sick and tired of all this carnage but there was little they could do until Cromwell finally emerged victorious.
By the time the 19th Century rolled around Hinckley's population had topped five thousand. This may not seem like very much to people of our generation but that was quite a healthy population for any town in the years preceding the Industrial Revolution. While the warning signs of a revolution were definitely evident by 1800, the world hadn't yet been changed. All the same, a change was a-coming and by 1820 the population of Hinckley doubled to over ten thousand. Just as in years past, Hinckley was known as the number one place to get hosiery and it was surmised that by the middle of the 19th Century over seven thousand people were employed in the hosiery industry in Hinckley. During this era Hinckley was also the home of a rather interesting revolt. It was on the town's Castle Street that the first practice of Luddism was undertaken. Luddites are people who hate technology and make it a point to destroy it because they fear that evil is contained within machines. The very first recorded Luddite attack happened on Castle Street when a group of individuals destroyed machines used for creating hosiery. While Luddism is now a thing of the past, it is interesting to see that Hinckley brought out both the best and the worst reactions to the Industrial Revolution all in one location.
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