Today, we are surrounded by the physical legacy of over two centuries of industrialisation: factories, canals, industrial towns and cities. By the 1950s, some of these relics of early industry began to take on a new significance: they were seen as an archaeological and historical reflection that needed to be captured, by recording and occasionally preservation. Industrial archaeology arose out of a widespread recognition of this need. In this book, distinguished authors review developments in industrial archaeology in Britain from the mid-1950s, when the term first appeared in print, to the present and offer some prospects for the future. Publication coincided with the International Congress on the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage held in Britain in 2000.