Arkwright's water frame, illustration. This water-powered spinning frame was developed by Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), British industrialist and inventor, who patented the technology in 1769. The machine was originally powered by horses at a factory in Nottingham. In 1770 Arkwright built a water-powered version in Cromford, Derbyshire. The water frame produced strong cotton yarn. Instead of human labour, it used a series of rollers to draw out the cotton fibre which was then twisted by spindles. This made cotton-spinning much cheaper.