Cromford Mill, Cromford, Derbyshire

Photograph taken c. 1990 © Reproduced by permission of Historic England Archive ref: NMR/12810/36

This water-powered cotton mill was built in 1771 by the industrialist Sir Richard Arkwright, as was the nearby village where he housed his workforce. This makes the building the world's first site to utilise a system of mass production and the template for many later factory villages. Find out more about windmills and watermills in our Teachers' Kit - Mills.

Location

Derbyshire Cromford

Period

1990s (1990 - 1999)

Themes

The machines to the right of this picture are carding machines. These used spiked drums in which the cotton was rotated. This process aligned the fibres, which were then placed in buckets as lengths or 'slivers'. The slivers were combined on a doubling frame, which is the machine that most of these women are working on.

Cromford Mill, Cromford, Derbyshire

Location

Period

Themes

Tags