Milford | |
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Location within Derbyshire | |
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Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Milford is a village in the civil parish of Belper, in the Amber Valley district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is on the River Derwent, between Duffield and Belper on the A6 trunk road.
Until the end of the 18th century it was no more than a few houses near the point, about a quarter of a mile further south, where a Roman road from the Wirksworth lead mines forded the river. The road still exists as it passes across the Chevin hill and descends into the village by what is now Sunny Hill. It is thought to have then proceeded along the east bank of the river to the Roman garrison of Derventio, in what is now Derby where it connected with Rykneld Street. [1]
At nearby Makeney, in 1554, Burchard Kranich built the first Smeltmill [2] for extracting lead from its ore. In 1581 Sir John Zouch of Codnor Castle set up a wire drawing works. [2] This followed the opening of a works in Hathersage in 1566 where Christopher Schutz, a German immigrant, had invented a process for drawing wire. Hathersage became a centre for wire drawing and, later, needle making. [2]
Of Makeney, it was written in 1817, Makeney, a hamlet of [the parish of Duffield], (Machenie), is described in the Domesday Survey as one of the manors of Henry de Ferrars. It is now considered as parcel of the manor of Duffield.
About 700 hands are employed by Messrs. Strutt in the spinning and bleaching of cotton, at Millford, a populous manufacturing village in this parish.
There is a Unitarian chapel at Millford, supported by Mr. Strutt; who supports also a Lancasterian school, in which the numbers are about 300: a room to accommodate about 400 is now building at Millford. The girls in this school, and that at Belper, are taught to sew, cut out, &c. as well as to read and write. A chapel has lately been erected here for the Wesleyan Methodists. [3]
The Royal Mint had acquired the rights to Schutz' process in 1568 and set out to restrict its use to the Company of Mineral and Battery Works. However, the works continued supplying the Belper nail makers among others and by the time Jedediah Strutt bought it, it consisted of two forges and a slitting and rolling mill, occupying both sides the river. Some of the mill buildings are now the Riverside Garden Centre.
In 1778 Jedediah Strutt built cotton spinning mills after the pattern developed by Richard Arkwright having been in partnership with him when he built the mill at Cromford. Part of the Milford mill still exists as well as much of the workers' housing. Milford's claim to fame is that one of Strutt's apprentices at Milford was Samuel Slater, who absconded to America carrying Arkwright's system in his head. He settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and replicated Arkwright's success.
There is some debate about the origin of the name Milford. It is generally reckoned to be a corruption of mule forde [4] [5] and it is so recorded (briefly) in the Domesday Book when it was owned by Henry de Ferrers. [6] There were a number of fords, which probably changed their position as the river changed its course. An old lane leading down to one of them was called "Save Penny Lane," because people who used it, and crossed the ford, saved the penny toll which Messrs. Strutt charged for crossing the bridge they had built. Afterwards, the Strutts had the ford destroyed and the river deepened. At some time, however, Milford was called New Mills. A map of 1787 names the road from Duffield as New Mills Road, [7] and Samuel Slater's indentures as an apprentice record him as living in "New Mills, in the Parish of Duffield".
The Holly Bush Inn is a 17th or early 18th century Grade II listed public house at 2 Holly Bush Lane, Makeney (part of Milford). [8] It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. [9]
Milford was formerly a chapelry in the parish of Duffield, [10] on 1 October 1897 Milford became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Belper. [11] In 1951 the parish had a population of 1235. [12]
Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership. The modern factory, or 'mill', system was born here in the 18th century to accommodate the new technology for spinning cotton developed by Richard Arkwright. With advancements in technology, it became possible to produce cotton continuously. The system was adopted throughout the valley, and later spread so that by 1788 there were over 200 Arkwright-type mills in Britain. Arkwright's inventions and system of organising labour was exported to Europe and the United States.
The Derwent is a river in Derbyshire, England. It is 50 miles (80 km) long and is a tributary of the River Trent, which it joins south of Derby. Throughout its course, the river mostly flows through the Peak District and its foothills.
Sir Richard Arkwright was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as the water frame after it was adapted to use water power; and he patented a rotary carding engine to convert raw cotton to 'cotton lap' prior to spinning. He was the first to develop factories housing both mechanised carding and spinning operations.
Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about 7 miles (11 km) north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the hamlets of Bargate, Blackbrook and Makeney. As of the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 21,823. Originally a centre for the nail-making industry since the Middle Ages, Belper expanded during the early Industrial Revolution to become one of the first mill towns with the establishment of several textile mills; as such, it forms part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
Whatstandwell is a village on the River Derwent in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. It is about five miles south of Matlock and about four miles north of Belper. Whatstandwell railway station is on the Derby–Matlock Derwent Valley Line, and the A6 trunk road crosses the River Derwent in the village. Most of the population is included in the civil parish of Crich but the village may be said to extend across the Derwent into the parish of Alderwasley.
Duffield is a village in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Derby. It is centred on the western bank of the River Derwent at the mouth of the River Ecclesbourne. It is within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Area and the southern foothills of the Pennines.
Jedediah Strutt or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelled it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England.
Cromford is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Derwent between Wirksworth and Matlock. It is 17 miles (27 km) north of Derby, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Matlock and 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Matlock Bath. It is first mentioned in the 11th-century Domesday Book as Crumforde, a berewick of Wirksworth, and this remained the case throughout the Middle Ages. The population at the 2011 Census was 1,433. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright and the nearby Cromford Mill, which he built outside the village in 1771. Cromford is in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
Findern is a village and civil parish in the District of South Derbyshire, approximately 5–6 miles (9.7 km) south of Derby. The population of the civil parish was 1,669 at the 2011 Census.
Milford Tunnel is a double-track railway tunnel on the Midland Main Line in Derbyshire which runs under a hill called the Chevin between Duffield and Belper. It was built in 1840 by the Stephensons for the North Midland Railway. At 856 yards (783 m) long, Milford Tunnel was the second-longest tunnel on the North Midland Railway when it was built.
Duffield Frith was, in medieval times, an area of Derbyshire in England, part of that bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers by King William, controlled from his seat at Duffield Castle. From 1266 it became part of the Duchy of Lancaster and from 1285 it was a Royal Forest with its own Forest Courts.
Dethick, Lea and Holloway is a civil parish, in the Amber Valley borough of the English county of Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,027.
Belper North Mill, also known as Strutt's North Mill in Belper, is one of the Derwent Valley Mills, given UNESCO World Heritage Status in 2001.
William Strutt, FRS (1756–1830) was a cotton spinner in Belper, Derbyshire, England, and later a civil engineer and architect, using iron frames in buildings to make them fire-resistant.
Newton is a village in the civil parish of Blackwell, in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England, about a mile south of Tibshelf.
Shottle and Postern is a civil parish within the Amber Valley district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Sparsely built up with much rural expanse, its population was 270 residents in the 2021 census. The parish is 120 miles (190 km) north west of London, 9 miles (14 km) north west of the county town of Derby, and 2+3⁄4 miles (4.4 km) equidistant of the nearest market towns of Belper and Wirksworth. It shares a boundary with the parishes of Alderwasley, Ashleyhay, Belper, Hazelwood, Idridgehay and Alton, Turnditch and Windley.
Cromford Mill is the world's first water-powered cotton spinning mill, developed by Richard Arkwright in 1771 in Cromford, Derbyshire, England. The mill structure is classified as a Grade I listed building. It is now the centrepiece of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a multi-use visitor centre with shops, galleries, restaurants and cafes.
Wyver is a locality within Belper civil parish, which is in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The area takes up the western bank of the River Derwent just north of the former mills of Belper. Although overwhelmingly rural, the area has some notable associations within that industry and has been used for various activities throughout that time, and in recognition of these it has been made part of the wider UNESCO designated Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
The Derwent Valley Heritage Way (DVHW) is a 55 miles (89 km) waymarked footpath along the Derwent Valley through the Peak District. The walk starts from Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District National Park via Chatsworth, the scenery around the Derbyshire Dales, and through the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. It follows the Riverside Path through Derby and continues onwards to the historic inland port of Shardlow. Journey's end is at Derwent Mouth where the River Derwent flows into the River Trent.