The Derwent valley sits upstream from Derby on the southern edge of the
Pennines. This UNESCO World
Heritage Site contains a series of 18th and 19th century cotton mills and an
industrial landscape of high historical and technological significance. However, it was not until Richard
Arkwright constructed a water-powered spinning mill at Cromford in 1771, and a
second, larger mill in 1776-77 that the "Arkwright System" was truly
established. Richard
Arkwright did for the Derwent Valley what Titus Salt did for Saltaire but his
medium was cotton, not wool. He
invented machines that took raw cotton and, through a dozen or so process,
produced finished material. When he needed workers who were familiar with gears
to help design and manufacture his machines he advertised for clockmakers. He also recruited kids as young as six
to run the machines and saw nothing wrong with six twelve-hour days for the
workers. He didn’t bother to
establish schools like Titus did in Saltaire but he did organize a Sunday
school, which didn’t interfere with the work schedule.
Not everyone loved Richard. He single-handedly brought down the cottage textile
industry. People could no longer
spin cotton thread, dye it and weave cotton fabric at home and compete with his
mass produced products and I imagine they were the first to apply for jobs at
his mill.
His original mill was driven by a huge water wheel that produced
the same amount of power as 100 horses – 100 horsepower. It was later converted to steam and the
boilers are still in place. Today’s
machines are run by electric motors whose electricity, ironically, is generated
by the same Derwent River that Arkwright used. In terms of industrial buildings the Derwent valley mills are
the epitome of what was to become the model for factories throughout the world
in subsequent centuries, earning Arkwright the title “father of the factory
system.”
