Bridge at Cromford Mill

Mill Lane, Cromford, Derbyshire, DE4 3RQ

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

A good example of a small early-18th century road bridge, crossing the Bonsall Brook. It was subsequently incorporated within the Cromford Mill complex, which was founded in the late 18^th century by Sir Richard Arkwright for the mass production of cotton thread. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: I
List Entry Number:: 1488715
Date first listed:: 04-Apr-2024
List Entry Name:: Bridge at Cromford Mill
Statutory Address:: Mill Lane, Cromford, Derbyshire, DE4 3RQ

User submitted image — Uploaded by Historic England Communications Team This photo may not represent the current condition of the site. Almost 350,000 images and stories have been added to the Missing Pieces Project so far. Share your story.
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: I
List Entry Number:: 1488715
Date first listed:: 04-Apr-2024
List Entry Name:: Bridge at Cromford Mill
Statutory Address 1:: Mill Lane, Cromford, Derbyshire, DE4 3RQ

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Mill Lane, Cromford, Derbyshire, DE4 3RQ

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Derbyshire
District:: Derbyshire Dales (District Authority)
Parish:: Cromford
National Grid Reference:: SK2979856944

Summary

Early-C18 bridge.

Reasons for Designation

The bridge at Cromford Mill, constructed in the early C18, 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:

* as a good quality early-C18 bridge with coursed stonework and curved parapet walling.

Group value:

* the 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 10 metres 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.

The bridge at the centre of the main mill yard pre-dates Arkwright’s arrival at Cromford and probably dates to the early C18. The structure bridges the Bonsall Brook and originally carried a road linking Matlock Bath and Cromford known as the Roundabout Way, which was an alternative to the steep turnpike route over Scarthin Rock. After the construction of the first mill at Cromford in 1771 (now known as Building 18), the site soon expanded with a second mill constructed in 1776-77. The construction of this second mill blocked the Roundabout Way. Richard Arkwright subsequently improved the steep route by cutting through a section of Scarthin Rock.

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

Early-C18 bridge.

MATERIALS: constructed of ashlar millstone grit.

PLAN: the bridge spans the Bonsall Brook and is oriented roughly north-south.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge is small in scale at roughly 7m in length and has splayed parapet walling topped with curved coping stones. It has a single semi-circular arch spanning the brook with stone voussoirs.

Sources

Books and journals
Buxton, D, Charlton, C, Cromford Revisited, (2013)
Hartwell, Clare, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Williamson, Elizabeth, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire, (2016)
Websites
Cromford Mills, Mill History, accessed 9 November 2023 from https://www.cromfordmills.org.uk/learning/mill-history/
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/
UNESCO, Derwent Valley Mills, accessed 9 November 2023 from https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1030/documents/
Other
‘Cromford Mills Master Plan, Volume 3 – Heritage Impact Assessment’, The Arkwright Society, April 2011
Patrick Strange: ‘Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mill An Archaeological Archive’, 2008
The Arkwright Society: ‘Sir Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mills Conservation Statement 2016’
'The Derwent Valley Mills and Their Communities', The Derwent Valley Mills Partnership, 2011

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.