Cromford Mill: Historic site secures cash for hydro power

Work is due start in September with the aim of being fully operational by June 2023

Hydroelectric power is due to return to a textile mill which helped spark the industrial revolution.

Cromford Mill in Derbyshire - built in 1771 by Sir Richard Arkwright - was the world's first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill.

The Arkwright Society has secured a total of £330,000 from Severn Trent Water and Derbyshire County Council.

Work is due start in September with the aim of being fully operational by June 2023.

The project will involve reinstating a waterwheel and installing a 20kW hydro-turbine to power the buildings, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The scheme will also see water heat pumps installed and an old turbine in nearby Cromford village restored.

The historic landmark forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Simon Gill, the society's operations director, said: "It's probably the most significant thing that's going to happen here to return water power to the original mill that created the first factory system at the start of the Industrial Revolution."

He said an aspect of the scheme that was "close to his heart" was the reduction of the site's carbon footprint and emissions.

Mr Gill added that when the project is completed it would be exhibited as an example of a green initiative to educate people about renewable energy sources.

"We will share our work and demonstrate what we're doing on a challenging Grade I listed site," he said.

The historic landmark forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cottoning on

• Cromford Mill, the world's first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill, was built in 1771 by Sir Richard Arkwright

• Until about 1790, he developed the mills, warehouses and workshops, which now form the Cromford Mills site

• Arkwright's invention of the water frame to spin cotton transformed the manufacture of cotton into England's major industry and created a system of factory production that spread throughout the world

• The mill in later years was almost lost as new buildings and a reliance on fossil fuel became the norm

Source: The Arkwright Society