Buildings 26 and 21 at Cromford Mill

Summary

A pair of cottages constructed in around 1780, altered in the C19 and C20.

Reasons for Designation

Buildings 26 and 21 at Cromford Mill, constructed in the late C18 and altered in the C19 and C20, are listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* the mill complex 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 buildings are a good example of a late-C18 domestic accommodation within this early textile mill complex.

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 26 (also known as Grace Cottage) and Building 21 were constructed in around 1780 and may have provided domestic accommodation for mill workers who were required to be on call. As originally constructed, the buildings were not rendered and had a single hipped roof and two chimney stacks. The buildings are likely to have been constructed at the same time. From about the 1830s a narrow building running across the west yard from Building 19 to Building 26 (later reduced to a dividing wall) separated access from the mill yard to Building 26 from Building 21, the latter probably by this period being used in conjunction with the work in the mill. By the mid C19, Building 26 was probably in residential use, possibly as two cottages. Outbuildings to the north of Building 26 built in 1879-1896 provided an outdoor toilet and fuel store.

The building connecting Grace Cottage to Building 19 had been reduced to a boundary wall by the early C20. In 1924 when Building 26 was purchased by W H Bentley who named the building ‘Grace Cottage’ after one of his daughters. The cottage’s tenant at this time was a Mrs Woodiwiss.

Between the 1924 purchase and 1929, Grace Cottage was rendered and painted. In around 1947 the building was altered further when its hipped roof was replaced with a gable roof; Building 21 to the east retained its original single-hipped roof. Evidence of the cottage’s original roof remain inside its current roof structure.

By the 1920s Building 21 was in use as a workshop by the Cromford Colour Company. In 1936 an electricity substation was installed in the east end of the ground floor with access from Mill Road. Part of the ground floor was later used as washrooms.

In 1979 the Arkwright Society acquired both buildings. Building 21 was converted for use as offices, and at this time Grace Cottage was partially rebuilt, re-roofed and new services installed for its use as a holiday cottage from 1980. Grace Cottage is currently unoccupied (2023).

Details

A pair of cottages constructed in around 1780, altered in the C19 and C20.

MATERIALS: the buildings are constructed of brick under a slate roof; Building 26 (also known as Grace Cottage) is rendered.

PLAN: the cottages are two storeys and are rectangular on plan oriented roughly north-west to south-east.

EXTERIOR: Grace Cottage is two storeys and constructed of brick rendered with stucco to create the effect of ashlar stone. It has a gabled roof, with two chimneys. It forms the southern part of the enclosed west yard of the mill complex., along with adjoining Building 21 which is unrendered.

The west elevation of Grace Cottage is a gable end and contains the principal entrance which is roughly central and is beneath a flat arch with stucco voussoirs. Directly to the south is a window opening containing a C20 sash under a segmental arch. Above at first floor is a larger window opening, containing a pair of six-over-six sashes.

The north elevation faces into the west yard and contains a further two doors and four window openings at ground level with C20 six-over-six sashes. On the first floor are two further windows, roughly at the centre of the building. Building 21 continues to the east with further openings and is partially obscured by C20 sheds (Building 20) projecting to the north.

The south elevation of the buildings faces the road with Grace Cottage containing a timber casement window situated roughly at the centre of the elevation with a very small six pane stair light at the east end of the building. To the east Building 21 has a C20 double door at its east end to access the electricity substation with C20 casements at ground and first floor. Scarring in the brickwork indicates the altering of the openings at ground level.

INTERIOR: the interior of Grace Cottage consists of rooms laid out in a linear format. The main entrance opens into a reception room with a dining room beyond. To the east is the building’s kitchen, store and stair leading to the first floor. On the first floor there is a corridor running along the south wall with this level containing three bedrooms and a bathroom.

Sources

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

Websites
Derbyshire HER, Cromford Mill Complex, accessed 9 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 9 November 2023 from http://www.derwentvalleymills.org/discover/derwent-valley-mills-history/
Cromford Mills, Mill History, accessed 9 November 2023 from https://www.cromfordmills.org.uk/learning/mill-history/
UNESCO, Derwent Valley Mills, accessed 9 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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