Derwent Valley World Heritage Site

I'm so used to and take for granted where I live. In fact, I only live 200M from a World Heritage Site. I can see it from our living room window.

Below is the description on the World Heritage Web Site:

"Derwent Valley in central England saw the birth of the factory system, when new types of building were erected to house the new technology for spinning cotton developed by Richard Arkwright in the early 19th century. There was large-scale industrial production in a hitherto rural landscape. The need to provide housing and other facilities for workers and managers resulted in the creation of the first industrial towns.


The valley contains a series of 18th- and 19th-century cotton mills and an industrial landscape of high historical and technological significance. The industrial-scale production and the workers' housing associated illustrate the socio-economic development of the area. The construction in 1721 at Derby in the English East Midlands of a water-driven mill to manufacture silk thread was a very significant event in the Industrial Revolution. This was the work of Richard Arkwright, who in the 1760s successfully developed a machine for spinning cotton. He formed a partnership with silk manufacturer Jedediah Strutt. They selected Cromford, a village upstream of the river Derwent from Derby, for his first mill, work on which began in 1772. Arkwright also made provision for his workforce, mostly children. In order to attract them and their parents, he developed the village of Cromford. Weavers were invited to live in the houses that he built, their children working in the spinning mills and the parents weaving calico from Arkwright's cotton on the topmost floors.

The Evans brothers began building a cotton mill at Darley Abbey, just north of Derby, in 1782, in the beginning in partnership with Richard Arkwright. It was completed around 1786, but burned down two years later. Its replacement was constructed immediately and was considerably enlarged. The company diversified its production, eventually giving up spinning, and it is now the home for a number of small businesses.

Like Arkwright and the Strutt brothers, the Evans family provided a community for their workers. The late 1820s saw the beginning of a progressive decline in the fortunes of both mills. In 1979 it had suffered two fires and much alteration. It is now home to a range of small businesses, as well as a popular heritage attraction. The Masson Mill, by contrast, was modernized in the late 1880s and was in continuous operation until 1992. Now the complete property consists of a continuous strip 24 km long, from the edge of Matlock Bath in the north almost to the centre of Derby in the south.

Belper is located halfway between Cromford and Derby and is formed by Belper North Mill (1804) and East Mill (1912). Its houses are built from gritstone or locally made brick and roofed with Welsh slate. They are laid out in rows, largely on an east-west alignment and in various forms as the company experimented with different designs. There is also the Chapel and Chapel Cottage (1788)."

If you ever visit the area, drop me line....