Technology & Work

Work changes as technology develops

Thousands of years ago people did not go to work. Work was something to do at home. Home could be anywhere. This is the remains of a Mesolithic hunters' shelter. They sat around a fire and made flint tools. They watched the animal herds in the valley below and planned the next hunt.

For thousands of years all work was done by hand. There were no machines to help. All you needed was the materials and time. This meant you could work anywhere. Shale workers needed shale and flint and stone for tools. Then they found a sunny spot to sit down and make bracelets.

In Medieval times most people had their living from farming. A farm is a sort of factory, as well as a home. It is designed to produce something. The Medieval sheep farm produced wool. Shears like this were used to shear the sheep. Wool was the country's most important export.

Mines were the first real factories. They were designed just to produce the product. Mining was done by hand using picks like this. Miners worked in cramped spaces by candlelight. It was a damp, dirty and dangerous job. Home and work were now separate. People started going to work.

Water was one of the first sources of power for machines. Water wheels were used for many purposes. Here they power the bellows at an iron works. Water wheels have to be built near streams. A new type of factory was born. Technology creates special spaces for work.

As technology continues to develop special buildings are needed. This 18th century glasshouse was purpose built. It contained furnaces for making glass. They needed to be built in a certain way to work properly. This also was a sort of factory. It is an ancestor of later, bigger factories like steelworks.

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