Building 17 at Cromford Mill

Summary

Late C18 cotton spinning mill, altered and converted into office use and a visitor exhibition in 2014.

Reasons for Designation

Building 17 at Cromford Mill, constructed in the late C18 and altered in 2014, is listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* the mill was constructed in the C18 by the entrepreneur Sir Richard Arkwright who was pioneering in his use of water power to mass-produce cotton thread, which came to be of outstanding importance in the development of textile mills;
* for its technological interest as an exceptionally early survival from the first generation of water-powered textile mills which illustrates the wider trends in the history of this industry;
* dubbed the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the mill complex became the blueprint for factory production, with Arkwright’s factory system replicated internationally.

Architectural interest:

* the building is a good example of a late-C18 industrial building and while austere, is of clear quality and design interest;
* good quality late-C18 features survive including mullion windows and coursed stonework.

Group value:

* the late-C18 buildings survive remarkably well as a group and help to demonstrate the functioning of this early textile mill complex.

History

The development of the cotton industry in the Derwent Valley in the late C18 has been determined as a key precursor to the Industrial Revolution in Britain. This development initially began with the construction of the Silk Mill in Derby in 1721 for the brothers John and Thomas Lombe, which housed machinery for throwing silk, based on an Italian design. However, it was not until Richard Arkwright constructed a water-powered spinning mill at Cromford in 1771, and a second, larger mill in 1776-1777 powered by the Bonsall Brook and the Cromford Sough, that the ‘Arkwright System’ was truly established. This system was a true blueprint for factory production and was soon replicated elsewhere in Britain, and later in other parts of the world. Along the valley, industrial development followed soon after in Belper (1776-1777), Milford (1781) and Darley Abbey (1782), with these four principal industrial settlements articulated by the river Derwent. Into the C19, the mills along the Derwent Valley were limited in their possibility for growth due to topographical constraints and distance from ports through which cotton was imported. This limitation has to an extent ensured their survival. Overall, the landscape created by Arkwright’s factory system remains largely intact.

The construction of the first mill (now known as the Upper Mill or Building 18) at Cromford commenced in 1771. In its original form the building contained 11 bays and was five storeys in height. It was originally powered by an overshot wheel with water brought to it by an aqueduct. The aqueduct would have passed narrowly above the entrance to the building on the east elevation, which is framed by a classical, Gibbs surround. In the 1780s, the mill was extended by 10m adding four additional bays at the north end, with a water wheel added to the north gable. The site expanded in this period with the majority of buildings constructed to the east of the first mill.

Building 17 was constructed between 1785 and 1790, originally as a mill. This was the third mill to be constructed at Cromford and contained powered machinery on the four upper floors. A storage area for receiving and opening bales of cotton was located on the ground floor at the eastern end of the building; the end nearest the main gate. Towards the centre of the building the cotton was cleaned in a sealed working area, located inside the large doors on the ground floor, and there was also a plastered office or dinner house with a doorway to the road, enlarged windows to the yard and an underdrawn ceiling.

The east end of the building is apsidal in form, and contained the staircase, with the west end housing an internally constructed lavatory column which served each floor, and a hot-air heating system located next to this.

From around 1840 the production of cotton at Cromford ceased due to the lack of an adequate water supply which severely limited production. Thereafter the buildings were put to other uses including a brewery and cheese warehousing, its main uses being as a colour works (1914-1979) and a commercial laundry (1895-1966). A fire in 1929 destroyed the two upper storeys of the Upper Mill, and the building was subsequently re-roofed in asbestos sheeting. The Arkwright Society purchased the site in two phases in 1979 and 1988 and oversaw the restoration of the mill buildings. The site is currently (2023) open to the public.

Details

Late C18 cotton spinning mill, altered and converted into office use and a visitor exhibition in 2014.

MATERIALS: constructed of Millstone grit with hipped slate roof and timber sash windows.

PLAN: long and rectangular in plan form, orientated east to west, with apsidal eastern end.

EXTERIOR: the north elevation faces the courtyard and has 12 bays, with timber sash windows of eight over eight panes, with secondary glazing, four doorways and evidence of removal of external additions. Apsidal east end has one bay of timber sash windows with eight over eight panes and a doorway and is linked on two floors to Building 16 by a brick arched bridge. The west end of the building was connected to the first mill (Building 18) by a brick bridge lit by a small window. A Gibbs surround doorway provides access into Building 18.

The south elevation facing the road has 12 bays, with timber sash windows of eight over eight panes, with secondary glazing, and absence of windows at ground floor level, with two infilled windows and a domestic-scale door.

INTERIOR: the ground floor is partly open plan and is currently used as exhibition space, housing the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Visitor Centre. Plasterboard walls have been used to seal in contamination from the former legacy of the building’s use as a colour works.

Recent alterations include the insertion of a modern central staircase and lift, and mainly glazed partitions used to subdivide floors one to four to create individual offices. Corridors have been created to the front of the building on each floor, with modern doors and partitioning. The top floor retains more of its open plan layout, with the original roof trusses partially visible.

Sources

Books and journals
Hartwell, Clare, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Williamson, Elizabeth, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire, (2016)
Buxton, D, Charlton, C, Cromford Revisited, (2013)

Websites
Derbyshire HER, Cromford Mill Complex, accessed 2 November 2023 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MDR3068&resourceID=1023
Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, History of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, accessed 2 November 2023 from http://www.derwentvalleymills.org/discover/derwent-valley-mills-history/
Cromford Mills, Mill History, accessed 2 November 2023 from https://www.cromfordmills.org.uk/learning/mill-history/
UNESCO, Derwent Valley Mills, accessed 2 November 2023 from https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1030/documents/

Other
The Arkwright Society: ‘Sir Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mills Conservation Statement 2016’
Patrick Strange: ‘Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mill An Archaeological Archive’, 2008
'The Derwent Valley Mills and Their Communities', The Derwent Valley Mills Partnership, 2011
‘Cromford Mills Master Plan, Volume 3 – Heritage Impact Assessment’, The Arkwright Society, April 2011

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