A COMMUNITY group hopes to celebrate their village as the birthplace of James Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning jenny, through a museum.

The invention by the illiterate carpenter and weaver helped to spark the Industrial Revolution with its superior methods for producing cotton.

Stanhill Village Residents’ Association say that the village’s role in chan-ging the course of history should be recognised with a James Hargreaves Museum to be at Stanhill Methodist Chapel.

Community rooms at the chapel would be transformed with exhibitions displaying a time when cotton production could not keep up with international demand.

A working model of a spinning jenny, recordings of how the machine would sound in use and a heritage trail would bring the time of the invention, in 1764, to life it is hoped.

Both the methodist chapel and residents are backing the idea which would use cash set aside for local projects.

If a nearby housing development for Peel Fold Mill is approved by the council, then tens of thousands of pounds could be granted to community schemes by the developer, Morris Homes.

Richard Hopper, of the residents’ group, said that members were hopeful of gaining support for the plan.

He said: “It’s such an important part of the area’s history, we feel it should not be overlooked. It was in Stanhill that the machine was developed but the effects were felt all over the world.

James Hargreaves is said to have been inspired when he saw a one-thread wheel over-turned upon the floor, but both the wheel and the spindle continued to revolve. He realised that if a number were placed upright and side by side, several threads might be spun at once.”

The jenny was initially welcomed by the hand spinners, but when the price of yarn fell the mood changed. Spinners broke into his Stanhill home and smashed his machines, forcing him to flee to Nott-ingham in 1768.