The River Derwent has attracted industry for centuries. Lead was mined in Derbyshire before Roman times. There is a record of nail-making in Belper as far back as 1313, and by 1566 Hathersage had a wire-making works.
The real concentration of industry, however, was along the 15 miles (24km) of river that snakes from Matlock Bath to Derby. Here is founda fascinating series of historic mill complexes, including some of the world’s first ‘modern’ factories. No less important are the watercourses that powered them, the settlements that were built for the mill workers, and the remains of one of the world’s earliest long distance railways, all in the context of a landscape that has changed little over two centuries.
In December 2001, the Derwent Valley between Matlock Bath and Derby was designated by UNESCO as a cultural World Heritage Site, one of only 23 such sites in mainland Britain. The citation states: ‘The cultural landscape of the Derwent Valley is of outstanding significance because it was here that the modern factory system was established to accommodate the new technology for spinning cotton developed by Richard Arkwright. The insertion of industrial establishments into a rural landscape necessitated the construction of housing for the workers in the mills, and the resulting settlements created an exceptional industrial landscape that has retained its qualities over two centuries.’
Sir Richard Arkwright’s magnificent Masson Mills at Matlock Bath stand at the northern entrance to the World Heritage Site. Established in 1783 and in continuous use until 1991, the mills now house a working textile museum and a modern retail village. The museum’s clatter of well- oiled machinery and the whirr of drive-belts take the visitor back to a time when generations of local millworkers trod the wooden floors.
A short distance south of Masson Mills lies Arkwright’s Cromford Mill, the world’s first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill. Building began here in 1771 and the complex, which contains a new visitor gateway, restaurant and shops, is, at the time of writing, undergoing regeneration and restoration. As water-power was harnessed to move the cotton industry out of homes and into purpose-built factories the village of Cromford, where most of Arkwright’s workforce lived, grew up close to his mills.
In transport terms, the remains of significant features can be seen along the Cromford Canal and at the High Peak Junction workshops. The railway later took over from the canal when the North Midland Railway opened north from Derby via Ambergate in 1840, followed in 1849 by the building of the route from Ambergate Junction to Rowsley. Today the railway to Matlock remains a popular and scenic journey through this historic valley.
At the northern edge of Belper stands William Strutt’s North Mill of 1804. Built using pioneering ‘fire proof’ technology, the mill now houses a visitor centre and the Strutt’s North Mill interpretative museum that provides a stimulating insight into the lives of those who worked in the Strutt family mills.
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