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Welcome to Cromford Mill

In August 1771 Richard Arkwright began building in Cromford. He created the world’s first successful water powered cotton spinning mill; a vital step towards full scale factory production. The mills at Cromford with their powered machinery, large workforce and factory village became models for others throughout Britain and abroad. For the Victorians who learnt so much from his example, Arkwright earned the accolade ‘Father of the factory system’.

Richard Arkwright’s achievements are acknowledged throughout the world. In Germany, at Cromford (just outside Dusseldorf) and in the United States, at Pawtucket in New England, the first mills using Arkwright’s technology have been restored and preserved as museums. In this country, where the story began, the same process is underway.

The importance of Sir Richard's achievements in Cromford and his partners developments further south was recognised in December 2001 when UNESCO inscribed a twenty four kilometre stretch of the Derwent Valley between Matlock Bath and Derby. Inscription by UNESCO as a World Heritage site provided the ultimate confirmation of Cromford’s place in the cultural history of the world.

Trouble at the Mill

Problems with the water supply c 1840 imported severe limitations on textile production at Cromford Mill and the buildings were put to other uses. These included a brewery, laundries, cheese warehousing and finally, in 1922, the production of colour pigments for paints and dyes. It is remarkable that so many of the buildings survived this use and by 1979 when the Colour Company abandoned the site, many of them were heavily contaminated with lead chromate. It was generally believed the mills had reached the end of their useful life and must be demolished.