Cotton in the Peak District
Textiles are part of our social history and on a recent trip to the Peak District, as well as the enticement of walking on the Dales, Bakewell Tarts and a trip to Chatsworth House, I was keen to understand a little more about textiles in the area during the Industrial Revolution.
In 1764, James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny which made it possible to spin several threads at the same time. It marks a moment in textile history and inspired many industrial developments.
Shortly after Hargreaves’ invention fellow entrepreneur and inventor, Richard Arkwright, soon after built the first water-powered cotton mill in Cromford on the River Wye in the Derwent Valley. The mill housed his spinning frame, known as the Water Frame. It took the moving carriage of the Spinning Jenny and combined it with the rollers of Arkwright’s water frame. Spinners could spin many different types of yarn, notably extremely fine yarn. Each carriage carried 1,320 spindles and was up to 46m long. The carriage moved back and forth 1.5m four times a minute. With this new mill came new jobs and opportunities and with the help of his semi-skilled workers, he was able to mass-produce cotton yarns.
The Derwent Valley and Cromford Mill is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and is looked after by the Arkwright Society. Cromford is not the only mill built in the area. Along the river, six other mills, which now mostly now been converted are nonetheless still standing. If it’s a sunny day a trip along the Monsal Trail is highly recommended. It’s a disused railway line, once carried cotton from the mills on to destinations to be woven up into cloth. The Trail runs between Bakewell and Blackwell Mill, make sure you stop to see the impressive Cressbrook Mill, another Arkwright Mill, down in the valley.
