They managed to wreck 49 of the 100 looms there before another detachment of riflemen moved in from Bury and broke up the proceedings, this time without firing on the by-now exhausted rioters. The tide of trouble had reached its furthest point south.

Meanwhile, several hundred of the Chatterton rioters had headed back north, following the Irwell Valley to Waterfoot and Bacup and destroying dozens more looms before being dispersed by a troop of Royal Horse Artillery from Burnley.

There was to be one more day of rioting and machine-breaking before the trouble ran its course. On Thursday, April 27th, the mob gathered again on the moors at Tockholes, west of Over Darwen, and headed for Chorley, eight miles away, where they destroyed 80 power looms at Henry Suddell's Water Street premises. That brought the total over the three days of rioting to 1,139 looms.

After that, all that was left was the inevitable recrimination and a few, isolated incidences of copycat rioting in places as far afield as Manchester - where Beaver's factory in Jersey Street was burned out - Rochdale, Oldham and even the Yorkshire village of Gargrave, near Skipton.

Now came the recriminations. Over the following days and weeks, many of those who took part in the riots were rounded up and imprisoned, often identified by spies and agents who had attached themselves to the fringes of the mob.

A total of 53 men and 12 women were arraigned at Lancaster Assizes in August, 1826. Of the men, 35 were convicted and sentenced to death, and 17 were acquitted. One received 12 months' imprisonment. Six of the women received death sentences, four received prison sentences and two were acquitted.

In the event, all the death sentences were commuted - eight men and two women being transported for life and the rest serving various jail terms.

The manufacturers did not suffer. Between them, they received just over £16,000 in compensation from the local authorities - money which was levied on already poverty-stricken households. The power looms were up and running again quickly, and the downward progress of the handloom weaver continued unabated.