Derwent Valley Mills

• Official Name: Derwent Valley Mills
• Location: Derbyshire, England
• Type: Cultural
• Year of Inscription: 2001

Derwent Valley Mills is a group of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cotton mills, worker housing buildings, and other structures dating to the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Located at the southern end of the Pennines Hills in northern England, the mills were the first constructed large-scale industrial enterprise, meaning they were the first modern factories.

The Derwent Valley Mills are close to the River Derwent. Because of this, water was used to power them, and this helped make industrial development in the Derwent Valley possible. These mills were the first to apply waterpower to mechanized textile production on a large scale. The presence of railroads and canals to transport goods helped the textile area there to flourish. The remaining original structures make it possible for visitors to see how the interconnection between the mills and these other resources helped build the industry.

Although some of the original structures have been lost to fire or deterioration, the remaining structures have been preserved and, in some cases, restored. During restoration, attention was paid to the designs and materials used to maintain the historical integrity of the mills and related structures. This includes some of the original worker housing, a key factor in the change from an agricultural to an industrial economy as people moved from farms to larger communities.

The Derwent Valley Mills site stretches 15 miles (24 kilometers) along the river valley that runs between Matlock Bath and Derby in the area known as Derbyshire. It includes a total of thirteen conservation areas with nearly eight-hundred and fifty structures that are listed as Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest. This historical area also includes nine sites designated as Scheduled Ancient Monuments. Derwent Valley Mills was added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site list in 2001.

History

Prior to the 1700s, most goods were manufactured by hand on a small scale. People made their own items, such as clothing, from fabric that was made by hand. Sometimes, people who were particularly skilled at something, such as sewing, knitting, or hat making, would run a small business from their home or a storefront. These were often referred to as cottage businesses. Other items were made by skilled artisans, such as blacksmiths and potters. Any small-scale machinery used in these processes was powered by human or animal exertion or sometimes by smaller water wheels. Most people lived on farms or in small towns, usually in family units.

This began to change in the 1700s. First, farmers developed new and better ways to grow crops and raise livestock. These new methods brought greater profits and allowed owners of larger farms to buy up more land, raising more produce and animals with fewer workers. This displaced some smaller farmers and left others working as tenant farmers on land that they used to own. This meant people were looking for other work to support their families, while those who owned the farms had new wealth to spend.

At the same time, new industrial equipment had been designed that could mass-produce items faster and more cheaply than those made by artisans and in cottage businesses. This equipment often used large-scale water wheels or steam-driven motors to replace human and animal labor. For example, pottery molds replaced hand-thrown pottery while other machines were made that produced yarn, thread, and fabric.

In 1721, Lombe’s Mill was the first successful factory built in the Derwent Valley area. It was constructed on an island in the River Derwent by brothers John and Thomas Lombe. John Lombe had seen new technology in Italy and brought back to the United States several craftspeople who had constructed it. They build Lombe’s Mill, the first successful silk spinning mill in England. Because the idea was essentially stolen, Lombe’s Mill is also an early example of industrial espionage.

The way the mill operated was new in the United States at the time. It used an undershot water wheel to power the spinning equipment. Undershot water wheels use the force of water pushing at the bottom of the wheel to create power and movement. Lombe’s Mill created an industrial enterprise with more workers and production than had ever been seen. Others began to follow suit, including Richard Arkwright.

In 1771, Arkwright constructed a spinning mill at Cromford that was also powered by a water wheel. Cotton was the preferred fabric for clothing because it was lightweight, held bright colors well, and was easier to wash and dry than wool. For many years, cotton fabric was made by hand spinning fibers from the cotton plant into thread and then weaving the thread together to form fabric. Arkwright designed a simple but revolutionary machine that used rollers and spindles to replace the hand labor and added a water wheel to replace the previously used human or animal labor.

Arkwright’s spinning machine, known as a water frame, dramatically changed how fabric was made. Hand-spinning cotton into fine-quality fabric required a skilled artisan with years of practice. Water frames could be run by unskilled laborers who, when taught only one or two simple tasks, could turn out much larger quantities of thread to make into fabric. This increase in productivity translated into profits and more mills for Arkwright. Other businesspeople soon joined him, including some who constructed steam engine-powered mills.

This drastically changed how people lived and worked. Instead of living and working on farms or in small, individually owned businesses, women and even children from farming communities moved closer to the mills. They lived in housing provided by the mills and spent long, often dreary, days making thread. By the 1800s, Arkwright employed more than one thousand women and children, and thousands of others worked at other mills in Derwent Valley. This was the start of the Industrial Revolution, which forever altered how people lived and worked.

Until the 1840s, the people of Derwent Valley focused on building factories to make cotton thread, building worker housing, and providing the services that workers and businesses needed. Then, the water supply in Derwent diminished, making it difficult to drive the water wheels that powered the mills. Some businesses began replacing the mills with breweries, laundries, warehouses, and a factory that manufactured pigments for paints and dyes. When the mills finally closed in the 1920s, many of the buildings and surrounding grounds were found to be contaminated with the lead chromate used to make pigments.

The Derwent Valley Mills were nearly torn down until a group known as the Arkwright Society stepped in. After the newer mills were demolished, the group saw potential in the remaining historic structures. Archaeological study proved the site’s worth, and it was recognized as a historic site. In 2001, it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Significance

Historians trace the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to England and the Derwent Valley Mills. The historic remnants of the first large-scale factories along the river are considered irreplaceable reminders of a turning point in human history. The Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site displays the birthplace of modern factories, while also retaining evidence of the dramatic way in which they changed life. The worker housing and the other city-life infrastructures show how these factories changed how fabric was made and how people lived.

The expansive Derwent Valley site includes the river and its related waterways, along with evidence of the canals and railroads that helped make industry possible in this rural area. This makes it possible for researchers and visitors to see what life was like at the time and study the significance of the societal and economic changes that began there. While the historic structures that formed the birthplace of factories still exist, the dramatic decrease in industrial activity in the area later in the 1800s helped to preserve their rural surroundings much as they were at the time. This makes it possible to see the factories in a setting much like the one that had surrounded them in the past.

The contemporary site includes shops, restaurants, a museum, and Arkwright’s house. It also has canals and rivers, gardens, mills, worker housing, and related structures. Derwent Valley Mill’s inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list helps to protect and preserve these historical resources for future generations.

Bibliography

“Derwent Valley Mills.” UNESCO World Heritage Convention, whc.unesco.org/en/list/1030. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

“Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.” Derby City Council, www.derby.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/tourism-travel/derwent-valley-mills. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

“Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.” Derwent Valley Mills, www.derwentvalleymills.org. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

“Richard Arkwright: Father of the Factory System.” Science and Industry Museum, 29 July 2019, www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/richard-arkwright. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

"Mill History." Sir Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mills, www.cromfordmills.org.uk/learning/mill-history. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

“Things to Do: Derwent Valley Mills.” Derwent Valley Line, derwentvalleyline.org.uk/things-to-do/derwent-valley-mills-world-heritage-site. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.