Important documentary and cartographic archives and collections of artefacts relating to the World Heritage Site are preserved in a wide variety of institutions outside Derbyshire, including the British Library, British Geological Survey, British Museum, Corporation of London Records Office (Guildhall Library), Manchester Archives+, the National Archives (Kew), University of Nottingham (Manuscripts and Special Collections), University of Oxford (Bodleian Library), Sheffield Archives, University of Sheffield Library, Tate Britain and, in North America, the Universities of Yale and Columbia and the Yale Center for Art. Further details of some of these archives are provided in The Derwent Valley Mills and their Communities,1 but significant additional work is required to establish a comprehensive list of archive sources beyond Derbyshire.2
There is also a need for the preparation of a comprehensive record of Derbyshire archives incorporating material relating to the World Heritage Site. This too is beyond the scope of the present volume, but to facilitate future research we list below the principal Derbyshire archives that are known to include material relating to the World Heritage Site and are accessible to researchers. Brief summaries have been provided by curators, archivists and others who are familiar with these collections of their contents, web addresses (where available) and other contact details. It is recommended that this list be enhanced as part of a programme of work that would create an integrated digital platform identifying written, photographic, pictorial, cartographic, oral and other information sources relating to the World Heritage Site (Chapter 4: Strategic Objective 1A).
Rosemary Annable (Volunteer Archivist)
The Arkwright Society was established in 1972 following the success of the 1971 Festival celebrating the bicentenary of the arrival of Richard Arkwright in Cromford and the construction of his first mill. In 1979, the Society purchased the Cromford Mills site that is now the centre of its activities. Its archival holdings include the administrative and business records of The Arkwright Society and its trading arm Cromford Mills Ltd. These provide details of Society events and activities, conservation work on buildings, sites and landscapes owned by the Society, and research concerning the history of the site and its technology. The collection also includes photographs and images relating to the Cromford Mills site and other Society projects (Lumsdale, Slinter Wood and the Cromford Venture Centre), archaeological material, original maps, plans and artefacts, a small collection of books on the textile industry, the Aspin Archives (research resources donated by Chris Aspin) and some records (in poor condition) of the Cromford Colour Company. The collection is in the process of being sorted and rehoused and will then be catalogued. As such, access is currently very limited. A collection of family and business papers of the Arkwrights of Cromford, including material from Willersley Castle, is deposited with the Derbyshire Record Office (D7573).
Address: The Arkwright Society, Sir Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mills, Mill Lane, Cromford, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3RQ
Telephone: 01629 823256
Email: officemanager@arkwrightsociety.org.uk
Anita Spencer (Manager of Old House Museum) and George Challenger (Chair of the Museum Committee)
Bakewell Old House is a registered charity and accredited museum, owned by the Bakewell and District Historical Society, which was formed to save this Tudor building from demolition in the early 1950s. The most significant connection with the World Heritage Site is the building itself, which was converted into five cottages for Sir Richard Arkwright’s mill workers. An additional cottage, which is now derelict, was added at that time to the front of the building. The museum contains over 9,500 objects that have been collected from the locality over a period of sixty years. These comprise a wide variety of domestic objects, kitchenware, tools, ceramics, early cameras, medical equipment, toys and an important and extensive costume collection, including samplers, quilts, militaria and lace. The museum also holds a wide range of documentary and photographic archives relating principally to the Old House, Bakewell town and its environs, together with archive material relating to Arkwright’s Lumford Mill (including original documentation illuminating its later use as a battery factory) and his role in providing workers’ housing (including the Old House cottages).
Address: Old House Museum, Cunningham Place, off North Church Street, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1DD
Telephone: 01629 813642
Email: bakewellmuseum@gmail.com
Web: www.oldhousemuseum.org.uk
Ray Marjoram (Treasurer)
The Belper Historical Society, founded in 1957, has been collecting photographs, documents and artefacts ever since. They are, of course, centred around Belper, the Strutts, the mills, textile manufacture and other local industries, but also include information on Milford and nearby villages where relevant. The photographic material is digitised and recorded with as much metadata as possible in a MODES database. Dates range from the latter part of the 19th century to the present and the collection includes much topographical material, portraits, industrial, school and event records. Documents include material from the Strutt Estate, the Dalton/Silkolene oil industry and theatrical and church events. Collections from earlier historians and collectors are summarised in the database. The physical artefacts cover broadly similar grounds and represent the local industries and the lives of the population in the last century. There is a small library of Derbyshire books and material representing leisure interests in the last century.
Address: awaiting move to new premises in Belper; currently Southfield House, Portway, Coxbench, Derby, DE21 5B
Telephone: 01332 880600
E-mail: enquiries@belperhistory.org.uk
Mark Higginson (Manager)
Strutt’s North Mill, run by the Belper North Mill Trust, is a small, independent, accredited museum housed in part of Belper North Mill. The museum’s collections policy focuses on the Strutt family, the members of which played a key role in the development of the factory system, and the history of cotton spinning and stocking manufacture, which were the main industries of the town for almost two centuries. Most of the collections are on loan from other institutions, including Belper Historical Society and Amber Valley Borough Council. The collections comprise Strutt family portraits, including a particularly fine portrait of William Strutt by Ramsay Richard Reinagle, spinning, cotton processing and hosiery manufacturing machinery, and archival materials and hosiery samples from Brettles (a major hosiery manufacturer in Belper). The museum also incorporates a small library with a range of books relating to the textile industry, spinning technology and the history of the site and area (including copies of Yarns, the English Sewing Cotton Company’s in-house magazine of the 1920s and1930s). A small photographic collection includes a series of group portraits of Strutt mill workers taken in 1896. The collection is currently being catalogued.
Address: Strutt’s North Mill, The Derwent Valley Visitor Centre, Bridgefoot, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 1YD
Telephone: 01773 880474 or 0845 5214347
Email: manager@belpernorthmill.org.uk
Ros Westwood (Derbyshire Museums Manager)
The main resources for the Derwent Valley include a collection of 18th and 19th century watercolours, oils and prints of topographic views relating to the area from Matlock to Cromford. These include works by William Day, Ramsay Richard Reinagle and Richard Henry Nibbs. A partner in the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Enlightenment! programme, the museum was able to purchase several significant views of the Derwent Valley which are illustrated in the project catalogue3 and blog. The museum also houses social history material associated with the Valley, including Ashford Black Marble and mineral specimens, pottery with topographical views and banking material produced for Arkwright, Toplis and Co: a Wirksworth bank established in 1780 as John Toplis, but renamed when Richard Arkwright Junior joined the partnership in 1804. There is a modest selection of local history guides, complementing those in the local studies libraries.
Address: Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Terrace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6DA
Telephone: 01629 533540
Email: buxton.museum@derbyshire.gov.uk
Web: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/buxton_museum
Blog:www.enlightenmentderbyshire.wordpress.com
James Towe (Archivist and Librarian)
The archives at Chatsworth reflect the lives and interests of the Cavendish family and the people who lived and worked with them on their estates in England, Ireland and Scotland over five centuries. The archives include much material relating to properties and estates in Derbyshire and along the Derwent Valley. Key collections include the personal, political and family papers of the Dukes of Devonshire and the Cavendish family; building accounts and household and staff records for Chatsworth; and surveys, accounts, rentals, maps, plans and other papers for the Derbyshire estates of the Cavendish family. The archives are cared for by the Chatsworth House Trust and are accessible to researchers by prior appointment. Reading fees apply.
Address: Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1PP
Email: archives@chatsworth.org
Web: www.chatsworth.org
Maria Barnes (Museum Collections Officer)
Chesterfield Museum is operated by Chesterfield Borough Council, and its displays focus upon the history of the town from its origins as a Roman fort to the development of the market, together with its many industries. Key to the development of Chesterfield was the railway, the first being the North Midland Railway (later the Midland Railway) which opened in 1840. The museum’s collection includes items relating to Chesterfield’s railways, including signs, timetables, plans and signalmen’s tickets. Chesterfield’s close connection to George Stephenson is also reflected in the museum’s collections. Stephenson engineered the North Midland Railway that runs through the World Heritage Site, as well as founding a mining company and iron works at Clay Cross. He lived in Chesterfield during the final years of his life and is buried there in Holy Trinity Church. The collections include items relating to this important figure, including his cucumber straighteners, a pair of candlesticks used in surveying, an oil painting by John Lucas (‘The Birthplace of the Locomotive’) which was commissioned by Stephenson’s son, Robert, and the portrait of George Stephenson below.
Address: Chesterfield Museum & Art Gallery, St Mary’s Gate, Chesterfield S41 7TD
Telephone: 01246 345727
Email enquiries: museum@chesterfield.gov.uk
Website: www.chesterfield.gov.uk/museum
Laura Waters (Curator of Collections and Library)
The National Tramway Museum is home to a world-renowned vintage tram fleet and vast collections of photographs and archive materials relating to trams, tramways and railway history, including material of interest to Derwent Valley researchers. The John Price Memorial Library holds a unique collection of books, pamphlets, reports and Acts of Parliament covering the history of British, European, North American and other tramways and light railways, together with a small selection of resources relating to Derbyshire limestone quarrying, George Stephenson and Crich. The holdings include the records of transport operators, including British Electric Traction and those previously lodged with the Bus & Coach council, and the minutes of associations such as the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association and the Municipal Passenger Transport Association. An extensive Journal collection is held, including Tramway and Railway World, The Light Railway and Tramway Journal, Electric Railway Journal, The Electrician and the Electrical Review. The printed book collection contains descriptions of the world’s tramway and light railway systems, including electric, steam, cable and horse traction. There is information on the manufacturers of vehicles and equipment, transport law and planning. The Photographic and Film Archive covers the tramway systems of Great Britain and the world, and includes negatives, glass plates, prints and commercial postcards.
Address: The National Tramway Museum, Crich Tramway Village, Crich, Derbyshire, DE4 5DP
Telephone: 01773 854321
Email: enquiry@tramway.co.uk
Web: http://www.tramway.co.uk
Hugh Potter (Hon. Archivist)
This small archive has been built up since the formation of the FCC in 2002. It comprises items which have been donated to, or acquired by, FCC along with a large digital resource assembled from diverse museums, collections and archives. Relevant documents, including extensive correspondence, have been photographed. Many hand-written documents have been transcribed by volunteers so are now more readily searchable. In addition, the archive holds the data from the Trent Navigation Gauging Tables as a searchable database; these list most boats authorised to trade on the canal as well as elsewhere in the region. An on-going project is transcribing surviving Toll Permit books documenting boats that passed through Langley Mill. So far, over 40,000 entries on the database offer an insight into trade, traffic and people on the canal as a whole, as well as the length within the World Heritage Site. The entire minutes of the Cromford Canal Company (1789–1852) have been transcribed into searchable format. A large archive of photographs in various formats, all digitised, is also held and can be searched by prior appointment.
Location: Ambergate, Derbyshire
Telephone: 01773 852009
Email: archivist@cromfordcanal.org.uk
Alan Bradwell (Chair)
The group was formed by a group of local enthusiasts in 2004 to investigate and record the history of the village and its people, and in particular the remains of the Augustinian priory that was established in the mid-12th century. Darley Abbey is best known for its monastic remains and mills, associated water management features and workers’ housing relating to the Industrial Revolution. Research is carried out on all of these subjects by group members and is recorded in research reports. The archive includes these reports, a collection of books, magazines, photographs and copies of maps relating to the local area, and some personal and mill artefacts donated by local residents. All of this material has recently been catalogued and incorporated in a research report. There is no library location, but researchers can attend the Group’s monthly meetings, when material is made available to members.
Location: meets at Darley Abbey Village Hall (third Friday of each month at 7.30pm)
Email: bradwell95@btinternet.com
Web: http://www.darleyabbey.com/index.asp
Archive report: Complete List of Holdings of DAHG. DAHG Report No. 68/2016
Mark Young (Manager of Local and Family History Services)
The library holds an extensive range of primary and secondary sources relating to Derby and Derbyshire. The collection is based upon two 19th century private libraries and includes manuscript and printed material dating back to the 16th century. Family papers, correspondence, business and administrative records, maps, plans, engravings, photographs, broadsides, local newspapers and periodicals, sales catalogues and published books are just some of the types of material held. While it is possible to highlight specific records relevant to study of the Derwent Valley, such as Joseph Wright’s correspondence, a full search of the library’s finding aids is advisable for anyone with an interest in this area of study. The library’s digital archive includes a section entitled Derby’s History: Researched by You. This section showcases work completed by individuals and groups who have conducted their own local history research, making use of the library’s resources to explore their topic of interest. Anyone interested in contributing should email the library. Staff will help to convert work submitted into a PDF or other suitable format ready for publication, and work will be shared under a Creative Commons Sharealike licence, ensuring that no-one else profits from the work and that researchers are credited whenever it is re-used.
Address: Derby Local Studies and Family History Library, Riverside Chambers, Full Street, Derby, DE1 3AF
Telephone: 01332 642240
Email: localstudies.library@derby.gov.uk
Web: www.derby.gov.uk/libraries
Daniel Martin (Curator of Making)
A large and varied collection of objects, prints and archives relating to the WHS are housed across Derby Museums’ three sites: Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby Silk Mill and Pickford’s House. These items range from domestic items such as porcelains, photographic prints, books and busts, to more industrial items including bricks, drills, lamp posts and objects relating to transportation. Though Derby Museums’ principle remit has been to collect items with a direct link to the city, there is a good deal of material relating to other areas, including the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Of particular interest may be the Joseph Wright collection and the associated Joseph Wright Study Centre at Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Also housed at Derby Silk Mill is the Midland Railway Study Centre: an archive and collections resource relating to the Midland Railway between 1844 and 1922. This resource represents the combined collections of Derby Museums, Roy F. Burrows Midland Collection Trust and the Midland Railway Society and includes a vast array of items from posters and tickets to nameplates and signal levers.
Address: Derby Museum and Art Gallery, The Strand, Derby, DE1 1BS
Telephone: 01332 641901
Email: info@derbymuseums.org
Web: www.derbymuseums.org;
Barbara Foster (Hon. Secretary)
The Derbyshire Archaeological Society was founded in1878 and has an archive in the Derbyshire Record Office comprising a wide range of original archaeological drawings and notes, photographs, sketches, ancient deeds and letters, together with the Society’s own records (DRO: D369). The whole catalogue can be viewed on the DRO website (see below). We also have a collection of water colours by Zachariah Boreman (1738–1810): a well-known porcelain artist of the day. The paintings feature 18th century Derbyshire views, including Cromford, Masson Mills and the two Derwent Valley views below. They are on permanent loan to the Derby Museum and may be viewed by appointment; digital versions may be viewed on our website. The first Journal was published in 1879. It is still published annually and contains major archaeological reports, together with articles on aspects of Derbyshire history. A searchable index of these reports can be found on our website. All journals have been scanned and searchable electronic versions may be accessed from the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York. We also publish Derbyshire Miscellany, which is devoted to local history; its contents are listed on the Society’s website.
Enquiries: www.derbyshireas.org.uk/ContactUS.html
Web: www.derbyshireas.org.uk;
Zachariah Boreman collection:http://www.derbyshireas.org.uk/Pictures.html
Nichola Manning (HER Officer)
The Historic Environment Record (HER) is the main source of archaeological information for Derbyshire and the City of Derby. It not only covers known archaeological sites, including above and below ground remains, but also everything from historic buildings and landscapes, to chance finds reported by members of the public. It includes anything that contributes to the historic environment of the county, whether nationally designated or just of local interest, and dating from the Palaeolithic right through to the 20th century. The records have been created using a variety of sources, including antiquarian writings, documentary sources such as historic maps and aerial photographs, correspondence from members of the public and reports from archaeological excavations, field surveys and other investigations. One of the primary functions of the HER is to inform archaeological advice given as part of the planning process. Any reports of archaeological investigations requested as a result of the planning process are then deposited with the HER to further our knowledge of the historic environment of Derbyshire and help inform future planning decisions.
Address: Derbyshire County Council, Shand House, Darley Dale, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3RY
Telephone: 01629 533362
Web and email: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/environment/conservation/archaeology
Sarah Chubb (Archives and Local Studies Manager)
Derbyshire Record Office holds the historic archives of the county of Derbyshire and the city of Derby and also houses the county local studies library. Key collections relating to the Derwent Valley include the Strutt family and business archives, Arkwright family papers, and records relating to the development of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. The Record Office’s broader collections document the social, administrative, religious and economic history of the Derwent Valley area and of the rest of the county and city. They include records of churches, local government and administration, landed estates and local people, businesses, clubs and organisations, maps, books and photographs.
Address: Derbyshire Record Office, New Street, Matlock, DE4 3FE
Telephone: 01629 538347
Postal enquiries: Derbyshire Record Office, County Hall, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3A
Web: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/recordoffice
Joan D’Arcy (Chair, Little Chester Local History Group)
The Heritage Centre occupies the south aisle of St. Paul’s Church, and is staffed by volunteers from the Little Chester Local History Group. Little Chester takes its name from the Roman town that was located here on the east bank of the Derwent, and coins, pottery and other artefacts from the Roman occupation, together with models, maps and photographs of archaeological excavations, are on display. The area was partially industrialised in the 19th century, and preserves streets of terraced houses built in Victorian times. The collection includes a range of material associated with this industrial phase, including documents relating to the Derby Co-operative Movement. There is also a large collection of written material relating to the area’s history, both past and present, including records of the floods of 1931–32 and 1965, plus biographical details of men of the parish who fought and died in World War One. Material may be viewed by appointment or on Sunday afternoons during the months that the Centre is open.
Address: Little Chester Heritage Centre, St. Paul’s Church, Mansfield Road, Derby, DE1 3RT
Telephone: 01332 363354
Email enquiries: info@littlechester.org.uk
Web: http://littlechesterhistoryderby.btck.co.uk
Robert Aram (Owner of Masson Mills)
The working textile museum includes a comprehensive machinery collection that provides a valuable insight into all major aspects of cotton manufacture and production from the 18th to 20th centuries. This collection includes machines associated with cotton preparation, spinning, doubling and weaving. In addition, the museum houses steam engines and working hydro-electric turbines, and incorporates workshops and a boiler house with ‘economisers’ that used waste gases generated during coal-firing to pre-heat water entering the boilers. Masson Mill also houses an important private collection of archives relating to the textile industry. These archives include material relating specifically to Masson Mills and records of significance for study of textile production in the Derwent Valley and the British Isles.
Address: Sir Richard Arkwright’s Masson Mills Working Textile Museum, Derby Road, Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, DE4 3PY.
Textile Museum enquiries: 01629 581001
www.massonmills.co.uk/contact-form.php;
Archive enquiries: by post to the above address
Chris Deeth (Vice-Chair)
The Midland Railway Trust preserves a nationally important collection of photographic, documentary and other material relating to the Derbyshire Midland Railway and other British railways. Its core collections comprise a number of exceptional photographic archives, including a comprehensive collection of glass negatives produced by Ron Jarvis of Derby between the 1930s and 1950s. These are supplemented by sets of railway periodicals dating back to the late 1830s and by an extensive archive of printed books, notably from the libraries of the Midland Railway Institute in Derby and the former Midland Railway London solicitors, Beale and Co. The Trust also holds an important collection of original manuscripts and Midland Railway line plans, including the Weston Collection of Derbyshire Midland Railway track plans. Other material includes signalling plans, railway timetables, accident reports, Acts of Parliament relating to Midland lines, engineering drawings, personnel records, technical manuals, rule books, operating instructions, training materials and a wide variety of ephemera (including waybills and wagon labels from Midland Railway stations and yards).
Address: Midland Railway Trust Ltd, Butterley Station, Ripley, Derbyshire, DE5 3QZ
Most of the archive, excluding the larger items of rolling stock, is stored at Butterley Station in Cumberland House
Telephone: 01773 747674
Email: midland.railway@btconnect.com
Web: www.midlandrailway-butterley.co.uk
Laura Smith (Senior Museum Assistant)
The Peak District Lead Mining Museum, open to the public since 1978, houses collections of over 6000 items relating to the mineral mining industry in Derbyshire and the surrounding area. This includes many extraction tools, pumps and engines for water removal, items relating to underground transportation and personal items belonging to miners. The museum also has several extensive mineral collections, which contain specimens from across the world. A welcome new addition has been a collection relating to the history of Matlock Bath as a spa town, with many images, postcards, artefacts and documents.
Address: Peak District Mining Museum, Grand Pavilion, South Parade, Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, DE4 3NR
Telephone: 01629 583834
Email: mail@peakmines.co.uk
Web: www.peakdistrictleadminingmuseum.co.uk
Jane Middleton-Smith (Company Archivist)
John Smedley Ltd, which was established in 1784, is now the world’s oldest family-owned knitwear and hosiery manufacturer that is still operating on its original site. The collection, which is specific to the company and the Smedley family, is one of the largest and most complete archives of its type in Britain and America. It includes over 7,000 garments, items of equipment, machinery and ephemera, all related to the manufacture of fine gauge knitwear. It also houses a significant archive that covers many aspects of the company’s operations, including production, accounts and personnel records, correspondence, photographs and publicity material, together with family and estate records. It is important to note that at present the archive is in the process of being catalogued and that access is very limited. In addition, some items are restricted for reasons of their commercial sensitivity.
Address: John Smedley Archive, John Smedley Ltd., Lea Mills, Lea Bridge, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5AG
Telephone: 01629 530484
Email: archive@johnsmedley.com
Lucy Godfrey (Audience Development and Collections Officer)
The Centre has moved recently to new premises that are being renovated with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. There is currently limited access to the collections, which until renovation is completed are available by prior appointment. They include items illuminating local silk and velvet production, together with possessions of Samuel Evans, manager of Wirksworth’s Haarlem Mill. The collection is being reassessed and reorganised as part of the current project, with the aims of enhancing understanding of the holdings and their relevance to the town’s history. It comprises a small but varied collection of artefacts, including prehistoric stone and antler tools, textiles and items relating to domestic social history. There is a small body of material illustrating the town’s tape weaving industry, plus artefacts and ephemera reflecting its links with George Eliot. Wirksworth provided the inspiration for Snowfield in Eliot’s 1859 novel Adam Bede, which revolved around Dinah Morris: a lay preacher who is thought to be inspired by Eliot’s aunt Elizabeth Evans.4 Along with her husband, Elizabeth was a Methodist preacher; both are commemorated by a memorial tablet which will be displayed when the Centre reopens.
Address: Wirksworth Heritage Centre, 31 St John Street, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, DE4 4DS
Telephone: 03302 211085;
Email:info@wirksworthheritagecentre.org
Web: http://www.wirksworthheritagecentre.org/
References
1 Derwent Valley Mills Partnership 2011 The Derwent Valley Mills and Their Communities. Matlock: DVMP, 106
2 Paintings of regional interest in collections across the UK may, however, be viewed at http://artuk.org
3 Westwood, R and Rhodes, A 2013 Enlightenment! Derbyshire Setting the Pace in the 18th Century. Buxton: Derbyshire County Council
4 Jones, B 2008 Beyond the Copper Beech. George Eliot, D H Lawrence and other Literary Links with Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Lulu.com; Mottram, S 1906 The True Story of George Eliot. Chicago: McClure
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