Photo 2 - Styal Photo 3 - Cromford
Arkwright could not simply build houses without facilities. Before long, he had built Pubs, Chapels, a hotel and even a prison! (See Photos 4 - 6)
Photo 4- - A chapel built by Arkwright, now a Garage
Photo 5 - A pub (The plaque says '1771')
Photo 6 - The Greyhound Hotel
Arkwright opened the Greyhound Hotel in 1778 for merchants and visitors to his mills. It overlooks the Greyhound pond, which was created by damming the Bonsil Brook.
Arkwright changed the watercourses a great deal throughout his time in Cromford. The Bonsil Brook did not have the power to turn a waterwheel on its own (photo 7). To add gravity and control to the Brook, Arkwright built a series of Dams. The first Dam, the Greyhound Pond, powered the first three mills.
Photo 7 - The Bonsil Brook
Originally, the Cromford Sough split in two, one joined up with the Bonsil Brook after it left the Greyhound Pond and another went directly to the southern end of the mill. Later, Arkwright moved the Brooks' course north and allowed the sough to flow entirely to the southern side of the first mill.
Photo 8 - The Greyhound Pond
Photo 8 shows the original course of the Brook having been blocked. Later still, Arkwright used the existing sluice gate, the "Bear pit" to block the Cromford Sough on Sundays, when the mill was closed and diverted it to fill up the Greyhound pond via the Linking Channel, shown in Photo 8. A different stone is used in the bear pit to Arkwrights' buildings, suggesting that it was built at a different time.
Photo 9 - The "Bear Pit", built in 1672 for draining lead mines
Source 2 (A diagram of the various watercourses used by Arkwright) shows the different courses of the Cromford Sough and Bonsil Brook. It is a secondary source, drawn in 1994 so we can assume that the artist used many sources to create a clear picture. The artist has no reason to lie about the watercourses. The source shows what has already been discussed, and so seems likely, and backs up my evidence.
The second Dam was used to power a Corn mill to provide bread for workers. We can tell that it was added later because, there used to be clearly either an overshot wheel, or a pitchback wheel there; later technology.
Photo 10 - A Corn Mill, at the second Dam, 1780
Source 10 - Watercourses, 1994
Part 2 - What Changes were made in the Mill site During the Period 1771 - 1800?
Richard Arkwright changed and improved the mill site considerably in the period between 1771 and 1800. However, fires also damaged the mill site. For these reasons, it is very difficult for historians to build an accurate picture about the original mill site.
Today, the first mill is only three storeys high. In 1771, it was probably five storeys high.
Photo 11 - The Roof of the first mill
An article in the 'Derby Mercury', 12th November 1890 tells of a fire at the Cromford mills. The article is simple and factual, the journalist had no reason to lie, indeed his reputation would have been tarnished had he done so, thus we can assume that this fire did occur, perhaps two floors of the mill were damaged beyond repair and so a makeshift roof was built. "the upper two storeys of the building were removed after a serious fire." - The Arkwright Society Guidebook.
Photo 12 - The Warehouse adjacent to the first mill Photo 13 - Quarry Bank Mill
Photo 12 is of the building next to the first mill. It has five floors, proving that Arkwright was capable of building mills with five floors, and suggesting that the first mill also had five floors. Photo 13 is of Quarry Bank Mill at Styal, it too has five floors (one is below the picture). Samuel Greg copied many things from Richard Arkwright, so perhaps he took five floors as a standard as well.
The Arkwright Society's guidebook says "Early pictures of it show it had five floors". Also, the scale model by the Arkwright Society shown in Source 3 (below) has five floors. The Arkwright Society is a known authority on the Cromford mill site. It will have looked at many other sources and has no reason to lie.
Source 3 - A model of the mill site at Cromford
The windows on the first mill are all missing now, but once they were probably the Georgian window frames like the other buildings on the mill site - why have them different?
Photo 13 - Windows from other buildings Photo 14 - The gaps for windows in the first mill
Photo 13 & 14 show that the gaps for the windows in the first mill are the same size as the windows in the buildings nearby.
The mill was extended as is clear from photo 16, as the brickwork changes. The Arkwright society says "In the mid 1780's the building was extended to its present length".
Photo 16 - The Extension to the first mill
The mills at Cromford are thirty feet wide. This gives enough room for two lines of machinery and to give enough light for workers. The mill at Styal was also thirty feet wide. Source 4 shows two lines of machinery in a mill, thirty feet wide, similar to Arkwright's mill at Cromford.
Source 4 - A postcard of a more recent textile mill, also with 2 rows of machinery
The placement of the waterwheels in the first mill is an area where many historians disagree. There may have been a waterwheel on the northern end before the extension was built. It would have been logical to place one at this point because the Bonsil Brook went past it there; it would have been foolish not to build a waterwheel to use this waterpower. Source 5 from the Cromford Guidebook suggests that there may have been a waterwheel at the northern end but it does not say for sure.
There was clearly a waterwheel on the end of the extension because the watercourse was altered to bring the water past it. Also, there are no windows on that wall, and there are marks and discolourations, suggesting a waterwheel
(See photo 17).
Photo 17 - A possible waterwheel at the end of the extension
There was also a waterwheel on the eastern wall of the first mill. Photo 18 shows the marks of where one may have turned. The Aqueduct also proves that there was an overshot or pitchback waterwheel there at some point. Source 5 also backs this up, since it is from a guidebook, it has no reason to lie and will have looked at many sources so can be considered a reliable source.
Photo 18 - The eastern Waterwheel
Source 5 - The waterwheels, from the Cromford Guidebook
Source 6 - A copy of a very early photograph
Source 6 shows the position of the eastern wall waterwheel. Note also, that it shows the mill as having five storeys and the window styles.
The second mill is a source of great debate because it burned down completely in the 1890s. The second mill was almost certainly the standard thirty feet wide. However, most pictures show it as having seven floors, not five. This is not as unlikely as it may seem because Arkwright was keen to impress and make more money. In 'Cotton Arkwright', a novel published in 1971, it says "Richard was permanently seeking after further spoils", suggesting that Arkwright wanted to make his next mill even greater to gain 'further spoils'. Remember, he built the 'Greyhound hotel' mainly for visitors from London, to show off his mills. It is, therefore, only natural that he would want his second mill to be more impressive. Source 5 shows the second mill as having two waterwheels. This is the commonly accepted theory, however, some historians think that the second mill had one large mill. Darrel Clark is one such historian, believing that the wheel is like another mill, Belper mill. Which was built around the same time and had one large wheel, proving that it was possible and the technology was around. I disagree with this as there is a dividing wall in the wheel pit in the second mill, as shown in Photo 19.
Photo 19 - The Dividing wall in the wheel pit of the second mill
In conclusion, Arkwright completely changed Cromford village. Without his mill, the small hamlet would probably never have grown into the large town it is today. 'Cotton Arkwright' says that "he has built an entire town as well..." "...with shops to meet the needs of the workers". As well as building the town, he also transformed the landscape, building a series of dams and changing the watercourses in amazing engineering feats. The mill site changed a great deal from 1771 to 1800. The first mill was almost certainly five floors tall and 30 feet wide, with rows of Georgian windows. It had waterwheels on the north wall and eastern wall, and probably had a waterwheel on the north wall before the extension. The second mill was probably seven storeys high. As for the waterwheels, I believe there were two separate ones because it would be odd to place a dividing wall in if there was nothing to divide, but perhaps we will never know for sure. Some mysteries may stay here, in the cradle of the Industrial Revolution.
Bibliography
The Derby Mercury
The Torrington Diaries - Viscount Torrington
Cotton Arkwright - M. Arkwright
R. Arkwright and Cotton Spinning - R.L. Hills
The Cromford Guidebook
Various Artworks
Postcards from - Lancashire County Museum Service
- The Arkwright Society
