Decline of Royal Status and Birth of The Linen Industry
The relocation of the Scottish courts to London being the result of the union of the crowns drawn up in 1603 saw the loss of the city's royal connections. A subsequent fire in 1624, saw a large part of the city in ruin, before being deprived of the eccestrial centre along with St Andrews by the Reformation. Dunfermline quickly sank into decline.
In the 18th century, the city impressed Daniel Defoe as showing the "full perfection of decay". The town would soon regained prosperity with the introduction of the weaving of linen damask - which would eventually become recognised as the world's leading producer - established by James Blake in 1718 after being inspired by having gained the experience of the special technique of one in Edinburgh as the way to take Dunfermline forward. Dunfermline became one of four main centres of the industry alongside Kirkcaldy, Dysart and Leslie in 1810. Although the first power looms in operation brought greater demand for the town's linen industry by 1825 as Dunfermline began to acknowledge the coming of the industrial revolution. The undemining success of the linen in dunfermline was prompted by a report by the Ordnance Gazette in 1894 who said: "The damask manufacture of Dunfermline is probably unequalled in the world for design and beauty of finish". Among other industries that have largely contributed to the welfare of the town are dyeing, bleaching; soap (from 1790s); rope-making (from 1830s);iron founding ; textile milling; distillery and brewing.
Read more about this topic: History Of Dunfermline
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