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Today we take factories for granted but in the 1700s they represented a completely new way of working. Until this time most work was done in the home or in small workshops. Birmingham’s metal trades saw the development of new factories like the one at Soho.

Birmingham began to pour out metal goods which its merchants traded around the world – weapons, tools, household goods. Birmingham’s factories were also producing toys and trinkets like polished buttons or brooches. In the course of the 1700s Birmingham rose from a small town of about 7000 people to the third largest city in the country in 1800 and it would continue to grow.