[Footnote 483: _Chronological History of Bolton_, 6th October 1862. See infra, p. 197.] Another memorial of Crompton which the town of Bolton now possesses is Hall-i’-th’-Wood, where the idea of the mule took rise in the inventor’s mind, and in 1779 assumed material form.[484] The Hall is outside the town and overlooks it, but at the present day, although the surrounding country has undergone such changes, it is not difficult to realise what it must have been one hundred and fifty years ago. The town was then known as Bolton-le-Moors, and in 1773 with Little Bolton and the Manor of Bolton contained 5339 inhabitants.[485] From the centre of a sparsely populated country district, it has been transformed into the centre of the fine cotton spinning industry of England, and of the world. The town is now the county borough of Bolton, with a population approaching 200,000, and with the district, according to a recent return, contains one hundred and twelve firms engaged in the cotton industry, working nearly seven and a half million spindles, and over twenty-four thousand looms.[486] In its commercial organisation the town stands as a witness to the world economy which has come into existence; in its industrial organisation, as a witness to the existence of the factory system. It is these facts, with all that they imply, which form the most striking memorial to Crompton, who, as one among other outstanding figures of his day, played no small part in the development of which they are the expression. [Footnote 484: The place was purchased in 1899 by Mr. W. H. Lever (now Lord Leverhulme) and presented by him, with a sum of money for its restoration, to the Corporation of Bolton. It is now open to the public as a museum, and contains, among other interesting things, many Crompton relics.] [Footnote 485: Aikin, _ibid._, p. 261.] [Footnote 486: Bigwood, _Cotton_ (1918), p. 185. The figures refer to 1916.]