The introduction of steam powered looms to carpet manufacture which took place in the early 1850s brought about a traumatic time for Kidderminster which had become a dominant force in the trade based during the period that fine carpets had fashioned on hand looms.

​

Many of the traditional companies went out business under pressure from the new technology. There was wholesale unemployment and then migration away from the town. The population contracted by some 25% between 1851 and 1861.

​

Responding to the challenge of the new technology was made more difficult by the fact that the power looms needed new premises to be built to accommodate them given their size and weight, compared to the old hand looms. In addition space to house the steam boiler that lay at the centre of the new process was also required. In the straightened circumstances that they were facing, few carpet men had the capital resources for this.

​

Two far sighted manufacturers, Joseph Kitely and George Grosvenor approached Lord Ward the freeholder of much of the town - and an enormously wealthy man - and convinced him to invest in new premises which allowed ambitious carpet manufacturers to share space and steam generation while they made the adjustment to the new world they found themselves in.

​

The buildings became known as the Lord Ward Shed and were a lifeboat for the town through this period of transition. By the early 1860s the industry- and the town was again on an even keel and succeeding in the new environment.

​

The building now houses the Museum of Carpet which opened in 2011 and which records and celebrates the town’s great heritage in this industry.

​

For information of some of the towns most celebrated people see Notable Local People

​