Dawn of textile industry during the Industrial Revolution - Derwent Valley Mills 1030
What and Why
In the 1770s CE, Richard Arkwright invented the water frame, a technology that incorporates water power into cotton-spinning. This immediately made possible continuous 24/7 cotton production within a factory and massively increases the output. Moreover it makes cotton production a less skilled production and enhances production of textile nationally. The first of this system was put in place in Derwent Valley Mills where the River Derwent flows.
The system was quickly adopted around the entire valley, many a direct intellectual property infringement to Arkwright, and there experienced a sudden surge of production and also workforce. New settlements were established by mill owners around the mills, with their own amenities such as schools, chapels, and markets. Most of the housing still exists and is still in use. These types of mills are considered the birthplace of the factory system and became so successful it became synonymous to the First Industrial Revolution, as blogged in Ironbridge, and further inspired similar communities like New Lanark and Saltaire, all of these being enlisted as UNESCO WHS for their everlasting contribution to industrialisation.
Further to just economic productivities, it is important to note that these industrialists were also concerned for their employees and families and acted out of a sense of paternalism, or later Owenism as in New Lanark.
These mills survived the wars and had continued its production until the the 1950s CE and today the site is now a museum, small businesses and an education centre.
Toponymy
Belper's name is thought to arrive from a corruption of the French word Beaurepair, meaning beautiful retreat, when the area was used as a hunting ground for the then nobilities during the 13th century CE. Derwent is derived from Brittonic river name *Deruentiū, meaning 'belonging to the forest of oak trees'.
See
The site itself is honestly not very interesting, even from the eye of an engineering academic like me. It does take a good day for a visit. There are actually a few of these mills for visit, and the largest one is the Derby Silk Mill, as pictured above.
The other important site is the Cromford Mills, which is literally the birthplace of all mills. This is near the north end of the site.
Stay
I came to this site through my regular academic diplomatic work and I was very fortunate that I was invited to stay in the Rolls-Royce guest house, which is converted from a former noble manor house. Incredible stay. Just look at the living area.
Getting There and Around
We drove as we were on a work-trip but as in other parts of the United Kingdom, the place is connected with a railway and the nearest station is either Derby or Matlock. A good half-day visit would suffice. There are local buses connecting the numerous sites.
UNESCO Inscription
The Derwent Valley in central England contains a series of 18th- and 19th- century cotton mills and an industrial landscape of high historical and technological interest. The modern factory owes its origins to the mills at Cromford, where Richard Arkwright's inventions were first put into industrial-scale production. The workers' housing associated with this and the other mills remains intact and illustrate the socio-economic development of the area.
References
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