| Research & Engagement projects in prep. or in progress: title/brief description | Project description | Output; location of archive products (where relevant) | Medium for dissemination and publicity | Responsibility | External funding sources | Comments | DVMRF: Building Research Found-ations | DVMRF Agenda Themes + Topics | DVMRF Strategic Objectives | Project progress | |
| Enhance awareness of DVMWHS assets and research activities | Site tours for University-based and other researchers | N/A | DVMWHS Website | DVMWHS Team | NLHF & Arts Council | | 2.3 | | | On-going | |
| Virtual Reality Tours | Develop virtual reality tours of mills, other industrial buildings & workers’ housing as interpretative resources | Virtual reality tours available at selected DVMWHS sites; lectures & other presentations; publicity via DVMWHS website, tourist offices etc | DVMWHS Team; in collaboration with other parterds (including Univs of Nottingham & Derby) | NLHF & Arts Council | | 2.3 | | | On-going | |
| Networking Grants | Grants for international conferences (with potential for providing platforms for disseminating DVMWHS research) | DVMWHS Website; University partners to assist with publicity and dissemination | Universities of Derby (Paul Elliott) and Nottingham (Susanne Seymour) pursuing current opportunities | To be determined | | 2.3 | | | Ongoing | |
| National/international conferences | N/A | DVMWHS and conference websites | DVMWHS Team in collaboration with other partners | Variable | Include: Llobregat Valley 2019; European Association of Archaeologists 2018, 2019, 2021; 2023; LSE Conference 2022; British Hydropower Association 2022; Royal Geographiocal Association – Institute British Geographers 2022; Congress on Cultural Ecosystem Services and Biocultural Heritage, Univ Coimbra 2025 | 2.3 | | | Ongoing | |
| Arkwright society talks and exhibitions | N/A | DVMWHS, Cromford Mill & Arkwright Soc. websites | Arkwright Society | | The Highlighting Heritage talks programme has been successful over the last 3 years (2023-5), engaging c.600 people with a wide variety of heritage topics linked to the DVMWHS. A programme of talks in 2026 is in prep. | 2.3 | | | Regular meetings during year plus periodic exhibitions (e.g as part of Georgian Derbys festivals) | |
| Belper Historical Society talks | N/A | DVMWHS Website | BHS members and invited speakers | | | 2.3 | | | DVMWHS Website | |
| Updating and improving wayfinding around Belper, Darley Abbey and MIford | Improved on-site signage, etc, enhancing understanding of historic assets | DVMWHS Website | DVMWHS Team | NLHF & Arts Council | | 2.3 | | | Ongoing | |
| Investigate from original sources the industrial history of Lumsdale Valley. Linked to programme of building consolidation by SPAB | Publication: Piper, C and A 2019 Lumsdale. The Industrial Revolution in a Derbyshire Valley. Chesterfield: Banner Publications Ltd | DVMWHS website | Christine and Alan Piper, Lumsdale Working Group | | | | | 2C | Ongoing | |
| Debyshire Buildings at Risk’ project: on-going survey of selected bulidings at risk. This is a county-wide survey, and there is potential for including selected DVMWHS buidings | Building surveys and restoration | Derbys Historic Buildings Trust | Derbys Historic Buildings Trust | | Useful to discuss potential for including selected DVMWHS buildings at risk | 2.1.5 | | 9A–E | Ongoing | |
| Derby Mills Reseach Group, with particular focus upon the development of Lombe’s Derby Silk Mill and the Italian connections (especially the Peijroni silk mill group) | Documentary, cartographic and photographic archive; includes summary in Derbyshire Miscellany (Autumn 2021: vol 22, Part 6) | Publication | David Purdy, Alan Gifford & Jane James (volunteer researchers , Museum of Making) | | | | 4.2; 5.6 | 4A; 4D | Ongoing | |
| AHRC bid on history of cotton spinning in the UK, c.1770–1840. JMS to liaise re. update in progress | Publication and database | | Dr Peter Maw, Associate Professor 18th Century Histiory, Universityof Leeds | AHRC | DK provided letter of support on behalf of DVMWHS RG | | Agenda Themes 4+5 & linked SOs | | Bid in progress | |
| Debyshire Buildings at Risk’ project: survey of selected bulidings at risk. This is a county-wide survey, and there may be potential for including selected DVMWHS buidings | Building surveys and restoration | Derbys Historic Buildings Trust | Derbys Historic Buildings Trust | | Useful to discuss potential for including selected DVMWHS buildings at risk | 2.1.5 | | 9A–E | Ongoing | |
| WORK Rexords: 18 month creative heritage project exploring historic working lives across East Midlands. Includes analysis of DRO and John Smedley Archives to shed further light on Smedley Mills working practices | Short films and digital archive | Product will be short films; supported by online archive resource | Animate Projects, in DVMWHS context in collaboration with DVMWHS Team, John Smedley, DRO & Derby Univ | NLHF & Arts Council England | | | Agenda Themes 5 & 7 | 5A, 5C | Ongoing | |
| Promote and enhance DVMWHS Research Framework | Maintain and enhance editable web resource, forming component of common digital platform for Regional Research Frameworks https://researchframeworks.org | Online wiki to which stakeholders can contribute; accessible via desktop/laptop computer and mobile phone | DVMWHS Website and HE Research Networks platform: https://researchframeworks.org/dvmwhs/ | DK in liaison with Dan Miles (Historic England) | Historic England | All sections uploaded; comments facility added; further enhancements to be expected as HE RF network develops (including addition of theses to RF bibliography; titles to be added can be listed temporarily on the relevant section of this spreadsheet) | 2.3 | | 1A | In progress | |
| Continue to expand ‘Resources’ section of DVMWHS RF wiiki | Provide catalogue of university PhDs and other dissertations with relevance to DVMWHS research . This spreadsheet to be added to wiki, enhancing dissemination of information relating to new projects | DVMWHS RF wiki | DVMWHS RG | | New ‘Theses & dissertations’ field added to Research Spreadsheet; completed theses/dissertations of DVMWHS interest being added to this spradsheet; to be transferred to wiki ‘Resources’ section when work has advanced further | 2.2 | | | Ongoing | |
| Revise and expand list of ‘Derbyshire Archive Collections’ in DVMWHS RF wiiki | Ensure contact and content details of listed collections remain up to date; add other relevant collections (e.g.proposed combined museum for PDMM, NSC & Institute for Quarrying at National Stone Centre; UHDB Medical Museum; Derbys Mapping Portal ) | DVMWHS RF wiki | DVMWHS RG | | Part of process of regular updating of wiki | 2.3 | | | Ongoing | |
| Periodic Research Workshops to encourage and facilitate research and to explain/promote use of Research Famework | N/A | DVMWHS Website | DVMWHS Team, DRO and Research Group memberrs | | Latest workshop held at Strutts Centre, Belper (March 2025); fociused upopmn theme of ‘Threading Research Together’ | 2.3 | | | April 2019 (Cromford); April 2022 (Derby Univ: hybrid); Nov 2023 (Cromford MIlls); March 2025 (Strutts Centre) | |
| Collections Documentation (documents, maps, artefacts, etc) | Listing and digitising pre-Ordnance Survey maps of the DVMWHS Core/Buffer Zones | DRO Online mapping portal | DRO & DVM websites | DRO & DVMWHS Team | | | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1A | Completed and launched 2019; ongoing maintenance and updating of map portal | |
| Prepare database of information for use in further research by North Mill Research Group | Database (North Mill) | North Mill & DVM websites | North Mill Research Group | | | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1A | Ongoing | |
| Catalogue the Cromford Mills Archive | Catalogue (Cromford Mills) | Cromford Mill & DVM websites | Cromford Mills – Rosemary Annable | | | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1A | In progress | |
| Catalogue the Willersley Castle and Arkwright Family documents held by DRO | Willersley Castle and Arkwright Family documents now available online (DRO Online catalogue D7573). | DRO & DVM websites | Work conducted ty Rosemary Annable and Jane Middleton-Smith, building upon listing of Arkwright material by Christopher Charlton. DRO staff compiled online catalogues | | | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1A | In progress | |
| Depicting Derbyshire – digitising visual representations of Derbyshire 1700-1820 | Project website | Buxton Museum website | Buxton Museum & Gallery – Anna Rhodes | | | 2.1; 2.2 | 1.6 | 1A | In progress | |
| Proposal for project collating oral records for people’s memories of the Derwent Valley textile industry. | Consolidated and readily accessible archive in DRO, including material from earlier Threads project | DRO website | DRO – Sarah Chubb | | Interface with East Midlands Textile Network project capturing oral records of people’s memories of the textile industry: http://www.knittingtogether.org.uk | 2.2.1 | | | Proposal is curently on hold (SC) | |
| Recatalogue WG & J Strutt business archive and English Sewing Cotton Co.collections at DRO | New catalogues on DRO Online Catalogue. Research guides on DRO blog | DRO website | DRO – Sarah Chubb | | Includes references to research on use of cotton from plantations using enslaved labour and will contribute valuable data to on-going research on these subjects. | 2.2 | 11.1-2 | 11A; 11C | May to Sept 2022 | |
| Catalogue Milford School 19th Century logbooks | Plan to transfer reords to DRO | DVMWHS website | DVMWHS Team | | | 2.2 | 7.7 | 7D | Ongoing | |
| Indexing by volunteers of recently purchased Duffield Manor records | Indexed record, expediting use as aresearch resource | DRO website | DRO – Sarah Chubb | | | | | | On-going | |
| Proposal noted by Adam Russell (PDMS) at recent DAAC meeting to deposit Jim Rieuwert’s archives and photograph collection relatiing to the Derbyshire mining industry in the DRO; possibly some records to Chatsworth archive collection. Further details to be provided when known | Deposition of records in DRO | DRO website | DRO – Sarah Chubb | | | 2.2 | 2.1, 2.3, 10.7 | 2A, 10E | Proposal stage | |
| Collections Research | Florence Nightingale comes Home’ UoN project: as part of this project, research conducted into Nightingale family papers at the DRO to map the changing estate. | Catalogue and GIS mapping portal; | DRO, DVM & UoN websites http://www.florencenightingale.org/; published book | DRO – Sarah Chubb, in partnership with John Smedley Archive (Jane Middleton-Smith) and Lancaster and Nottingham Universities; | AHRC | | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1A | Commenced 2018; project now completed | |
| Research on Arkwright Society collections by Cromford Mill volunteers | Cotton Threads newsletter includes news and poses research questions | Exhibitions at Cromford Mill; Cromford Mill & DVMWHS websites; afternoon meetings | Arkwright Society; Rosemary Annable | | | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1B | Ongoing | |
| Continuing research into John Smedley archive by Jane Middleton-Smith and Stanley Chapman | Archive databases (John Smedley Archives); journal publications | Publications in Derbys Arch Jnl. Trans Thoroton Soc Notts & annual Arkwright Society conference publication | John Smedley Archives | Archivist post (JMS) funded by John Smedley | JMS to provide information on location of Florence Nightingale’s geological collection (donated to a local school) | 2.1; 2.2 | | 1A | Ongoing | |
| Study of the Arkwrights and slavery | Commenced as Great Place scheme focusing on study of DRO and online records | DVMWHS website | DVMWHS Team | | | 2.2 | 11.1–2 | 11A; 11C | Ongoing | |
| Researching links of the Strutt and Douglas families with transatlantic slave trade | Strutt and Tissington papers at DRO; Birmingham City Archiives: Galton Archives | Published book proposed; talks to Belper Hist Soc and other local societies; exhibition; possible road trail | Frances Wilkins | | Interface with Global Cotton Connections project and work at Darley Abbey by volunteers from Slave Trade Legacies project. | 2.3.1–2 | 11.2 | 11A | Ongoing | |
| Researching Cromford’s 1841 Census and 1840/1 Tithe Award to elucidate changing village demography | Report in Cromford Mills archive collection | Cromford Mills monthly newsletter | Stephen Hill (Cromford Mills volunteer) | | | 2.2 | 7.1-4; 7.10 | 7A-B | Ongoing | |
| Catalogue Milford School 19th Century logbooks | Plan to transfer reords to DRO | DVMWHS website | DVMWHS Team | | Heritage Day planned at school July 2023 | 2.2 | 7.7 | 7D | Ongoing | |
| Industrial Folkways’ project, studying developments in ritual and belief from material culture and other archaeological sources, with focus upon continuity and change during the Industrial Revolution | project website: https//industrialfolkways.wordpress.com/ | Proposed digital trails, exhibitions and workshops | Dr Kirsten Leach | | | | 3.1-5;3.7-8;5.7-8; 7.1,7.7,7.9 | | Ongoing | |
Belper North Mill Research Group (source: Jane Whittaker): documentary, cartographic and photographic research on trespassing and poaching in C19 Milford; development of Bank Buildings, Chevin Rd, including details of occupants; developing community, buildings, infrastructure and land use of West Milford (particularly Chevin Road to Swainsley Court, Jacksons Lane, Morrells Lane & Hopping Hole Quarry); Milford School admissions registers & log books etc.
| Belper North Mill Research Group | Belper North Mill Research Group | Belper North Mill Research Group | | | | 1-3, 6-10 | | Ongoing | |
| Theses and dissertations in progress | See ~Theses and dissertations’ section of this spreadsheet | | | | | | | | | | |
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Part of the Research Frameworks Network