Geograph - photograph every grid square

The old works bell affixed to a gable of David Livingstone's birthplace at Shuttle Row. It would have summoned the mill workers to their work in the mornings and been rung when their shift was over in the evenings. Historians see the work process at the end of the 18th century as changing from a cottage system with its more flexible, family-friendly arrangements to one of creating a more disciplined (hence subservient?) workforce. One aspect of the new rules laid down by the mill owners was the imposition of "industrial time".

See also NS6958 : Bell plaque at Blantyre