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Welcome to the Industrious East!
From the moment you set foot in the East of England you will be entranced by its variety and quiet beauty. The Industrious East is a network of Industrial Heritage Museums and other attractions designed for a different visitor experience. The region once carried an amazing variety of industries. Industrial giants like Courtaulds and Marconi originated here. Railways such as the line from Liverpool Street to Colchester were amongst the first to be built, anywhere in the world. In Victorian times, huge maltings dominated the landscape, supplying malt for beer making. The regions industrial prosperity began with the coming of the railways and lasted until the last decades of the twentieth century. Many monuments remain as mute testimonials to this great adventure.

The Industrious East is here to tell the full story and to invite you to visit the places where exciting developments actually happened. The hugely-important Industrial Revolution came late to eastern England but nevertheless, like a sleeping giant, the region awoke slowly to the challenge of providing essential commodities like food and drink to the UK´s growing industrial population. Here fuel other than timber was in short supply, as were most raw materials. This meant that industry developed gradually, in response to the needs of agriculture, commerce and construction. The arrival of the railways brought fundamental changes to the regions market towns from the mid-nineteenth century, bringing new forms of employment and connecting its growing industries to wider markets.Bricks from Peterborough and Bedford dominated London's great expansion.

Join us as we explore places and stories in detail. We will help you to understand the industrialised landscape of the present day and to appreciate the working conditions and challenges of the past.

 
The Industrious East: Celebrating the working history of the east of England
The Industrious East puts people at the centre of Industrial Heritage. This Regional Route celebrates the industrious people of the east of England, their successes and achievements. Whether engineers and innovators or the working people and their centuries of effort and toil, the Route brings them all to life. It is part of ERIH— the European Route of Industrial Heritage — that stretches across the continent. more
     
 
Europe´s industrial heritage
Industrialisation changed the face of Europe. Consequently it has left us a rich industrial heritage. A gigantic network of sites spread all over the continent. It only has to be brought back to life. That is what the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is doing. Come with us on an exciting journey of discovery along the milestones of European industrial history.
     
 
ERIH Regional Routes
Each region in Europe has its own identity. In this respect European industrial heritage is just like food. Its strength lies in the fact that it unites many different traditions within a single idea. The Regional Routes link landscapes and sites which have left their mark on European industrial history. Germany´s Ruhrgebiet, for example. Or South Wales, a key region in the "world´s first industrial nation". Regional Routes are the smaller, but no less important, cogs in the large machine.
     
 
What is ERIH?
ERIH is a network of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. It is the common link between them all. From disused production plants to industrial landscape parks and inter-active technology museums. The backbone of the route consists of the so-called anchor points: the outstanding industrial monuments in the former heartlands of the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain, Netherlands and Germany. But this is just the beginning. For ERIH intends to grow further - right to the borders of Europe.
     
 
  The Industrious East

  Application of power

Tracks of the industrial revolution