This is a list of the cotton and other textile mills in Derbyshire, England. The first mills were built in the 1760s in the Derwent Valley by Arkwright and Strutt, and were powered by the water of the River Derwent. The abundance of water from the River Etherow and its tributaries led to mills being built in Longdendale and Glossopdale, and similarly along the River Wye in Millers Dale. As the industry developed, the mills changed hands, were demolished, were converted to use steam, or consolidated into larger units. They changed their names and their functions. Water-powered mills were smaller than the later steam-powered mills found in Greater Manchester. Parts of Derbyshire have been subsumed into Stockport.
1186846Notes: The original North Mill, completed in 1786 by Jedediah Strutt, was destroyed by fire in 1803. Its replacement was built in 1804 by his son, William Strutt, on the foundations of the old mill and is one of the oldest surviving examples of an iron-framed 'fire-proof' building in the world.[1]
1336982Notes: A fortress-like, seven-storey building, 24 bays by 11, with four corner turrets with Italianate tower, it was constructed by the English Sewing Cotton Company in 1912.[1]
Notes: The Evans Mills produced high-quality 'Boar's Head' sewing cotton. Long Mill was built in 1782, operational in 1788, then burnt down in 1789 and was rebuilt in 1790. The top floor was used as a schoolroom for their child workers. It connects to West Mill (1821), Middle Mill (1804–05) and East Mill (1811). Separate is a Gassing Shed (1862) where the thread was singed, and the North Mill (1835). The free-standing engine house has been demolished but the chimney remains. [3]
Notes: The Milford mill complex, built by Jebediah and William Strutt, spanned the A6 toll road, upstream from Milford bridge. Started in the 1780s to spin cotton, it expanded to include bleaching and dyeing mills. William built the warehouse in 1793, experimenting to produce a multi-storey fire-proof mill.The extant dyehouse near the bridge was a later more successful attempt.[4]
Notes: The oldest-known mill in the New Mills area, built between the inn and the brook. It was a two-storey building powered by a waterwheel. The remains were swept away by the flood of 18 June 1930.[5][6]
Notes: Spindleage: (1811) 14 mules, 2802 spindles, (1848) 20 mules, 13,792 spindles, boiler by Butterley. The first mill was built in 1794 by Samuel Schofield, for cotton spinning. It was powered by water. It was burnt down on 22 October 1838 while being operated by John Sheldon. The second bigger five-storey mill was built immediately on the same site. A chimney was added in 1846, suggesting that this mill was operated by steam and water. The mill was occupied by Josiah Mellor and John Roberts until 1857, when it passed to Messrs Hibbert and Alcock cotton spinners. In June 1873, the mill was floated with capital of £4000 as a co-operative venture known as the Torr Mill Spinning Company. In 1883 a new boiler was installed. The mill became unviable in 1900 and the machinery was removed. Two further firms attempted to use the mill but it was destroyed by fire on 2 December 1912. The leat for this mill passed under the Queens Road bridge and in a trough over the River Sett, and the tail race continued downstream under the Union Road bridge. Torrs Hydro has been built on the site.[6][8][9]
Notes: The first mill was a woollen mill which burnt down. This four-storey gritstone former cotton mill, on Hyde Bank Road straddling the River Sett, dates from the early 19th century. The mill used to be a finishing mill for W S Lowe & Sons, but has been shut for a number of years. It has now been converted into flats and the bridge on the left is a recent replacement.
The first cotton spinning mill was constructed in 1785; before that an early woollen and fulling occupied the site. Now in multiple occupation.[6][10]
Notes: Three- and four-storey gritstone mill building (datestone 1883) on the Peak Forest Canal. Formerly a cotton mill, bought in 1868 by the Quaker, Edward Godward 1841–1908, who became the first chairman of New Mills UDC, in 1894. Spindleage 1887: 11,000 kitting and sewing cottons. It was extended and used as a sweet factory by Swizzels Matlow.[5][6][7]
Victoria Mill
Newtown, New Mills
1860
125
Notes: 1889: Josseph Froggatt & Son, 1,000 spindles. Victoria Mill was built in 1860 and when it closed in 1985 was the last cotton spinning mill to work in New Mills. It was partly destroyed by fire on 13 March 1986 and has subsequently been largely demolished. There is a picture of it just after the fire on the front of New Mills – A look back at its Industrial Heritage (1997).[6][7]
Notes: Three- and four-storey gritstone mill building of 1859. This was the first of a group of mid-19th century cotton mills erected around the Peak Forest Canal.[5][6]
Warks Moor Mill
Newtown, New Mills
Notes: 1889: Francis Rowbottom, 8000 spindles[6][7]
Notes: 1889:Bleachers and Dyers and paper maker[6][7]
Some of these mills are occupied by Swizzels Matlow.[11] One mill was built about 1843, and part was destroyed by fire in 1983. Swizzels Matlow's address is Albion Road.
1068650Notes: The mill opened in 1778, built by John Gardom of Bakewell and John Pares of Leicester on the site of a corn mill. To use Arkwright's two patents there was an initial premium of £7000 and an annual royalty of £1000. By 1785, the mill had been developed and stood at three storeys. In 1799, however, the River Derwent washed away Calver Bridge and took part of the mill with it; shortly after the mill was burned to the ground. A new seven-storey mill was subsequently constructed, and began production in 1804. By 1830 it employed 200 workers some being parish apprentices. In 1833 new, larger, waterwheels were constructed.[13] Spinning finished in 1923. In the 1980, the mill featured in Pat Reid's television drama Colditz, standing in for Colditz Castle.[14][5]
1096614Notes: This mill has now been converted into apartments. The first mill was a corn mill driven by the River Noe. In 1795 Nicholas Cresswell enlarged the building, taking James Harrison, Robert Blackwell and Joseph Fletcher as partners. A three-storey building with external stair column, the present mill was added a little later. The mill which passed to the Fine Spinners & Doublers Ltd, and cotton manufacturing ceased here in 1934. Many of the women workers came from Castleton, walking to the mill via Hollins Cross at a height of 1,250 feet (380 m). This was a climb of 650 feet (200 m); during bad weather they would sleep at the mill.[5][15]
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