Tour showcases world's first industrial worker homes

Visitors are being given the chance to peek inside one of the world's first ever homes for industrial workers - built 250 years ago for staff from a water-powered cotton spinning mill in Derbyshire.

The cottages in North Street, Cromford, were commissioned by Sir Richard Arkwright, recognised as one of the founders of the industrial revolution.

To mark the anniversary, visitors will be able to explore one of the houses across two open days on Saturday and Sunday.

Tour co-ordinator George Greaves said the open days will be a "rare opportunity to actually get in and explore" the life of a mill worker in the 1770s.

Arkwright developed Cromford Mills in 1771 and it is regarded as one of the key sites in the industrial revolution and a core part of the Derwent Valley Mills Unesco World Heritage Site.

"Arkwright had to invite families to come and live here, and to attract them he built these really high quality houses that have stood the test of time," said Greaves, who is part of the Derwent Valley Mills co-ordination team.

The "father of the factory system" had child employees as young as six, so the mill owner was particularly keen to draw in large families to Cromford.

Most of the terraced cottages were built on three-levels, some four, with the top level having stretched along the row of houses.

This space was used by framework knitters to weave cotton fabric, working from home long before the Covid pandemic made it commonplace.

"The street is actually quite wide, purposely built so that the top of the houses on the hill don't cast a shadow onto the upper floor of the lower houses," said Greaves.

"That way residents could keep working for as long as possible."

The homes were also equipped with pig sties for meat and fat to make tallow candles, again, so that homes could be lit and people could work beyond sunlit hours.

They had ample garden space for growing crops, which led to the innovative hydrologically engineered Bear Pit.

This sunken system diverted water from Bonsal Brook and the nearby lead mines to Cromford Mills.

"The clever thing was that because the water from the lead mines was coming from underground, it never froze," said Greaves.

"It was just that little bit warmer, which meant that Arkwright could run his machines all year round, even in the winter."

The 1833 Factory Act banned children under nine from working in textile mills and young workers had to be provided with two hours of daily schooling.

This prompted Arkwright to build Cromford Church of England Primary School, which sits at the top of North Road.

Greaves has been working there this week, teaching the children about the historical significance of the street they walk down each day.

"I have an absolutely lovely job. I get to go around and share this wonderful place with everybody, really celebrating what we've got here," she said.

"It's a fantastic World Heritage Site. We're really proud of it."

The vast majority of the properties on North Street are privately owned and actively lived in, but the Landmark Trust owns number 10, which it will be opening for the Heritage Open Day tours.

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