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Cromford
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Cromford

Location: n/a
County: Derbyshire
Telephone - please mention Let's Stay Peak District: + 44 (0)1629 55082 (Matlock TIC)
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Area Guides:
Cromford


Details: Arkwright's village by the Derwent, rich in industrial heritage and rural charm......The village of Cromford fits snugly amongst fine rock scenery and sits astride the main A6 at the southern end of Matlock Dale.

Click here to view accommodation listings for Cromford

The village owes its historical significance entirely to the River Derwent, taking its name from a bend in the river where the water was shallow enough to be forded by the old Derby to Chesterfield road, the original old English Cruneford meaning 'crooked ford'.

Tom Bates reflects...

Two thousand years ago the Romans knew the crossing and shipped pigs of Iead mined in the hills down-river to the Trent. Cromford is also known as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution; this was where Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), perhaps Britain's first-ever industrial tycoon, chose to build the world's first water-powered cotton mill in 1771.

The character of the village was completely transformed in the early years of the 19th century when Scarthin Nick was dynamited through to make way for what later became the A6.

This joined Arkwright's industrial mill complex on the east side of the Derby road with the Market Place and village at the bottom of the hill which climbs westward towards Wirksworth.

The village owes its existence to Richard Arkwright, who was responsible for most of its construction; not only did he build all the mills and workshops, but he also built houses for his workers, a school, a chapel, and an inn in the Market Place. He went on to become High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1787, the same year that he had received his knighthood, and in 1790 he secured the right to hold a market on Saturdays in the village.

Sir Richard Arkwright lived at Rock House, opposite his original mill, but in 1788 he purchased an estate from Florence Nightingale's father, William for £20,000 and set about building Willersley Castle for himself and his family. But he died, aged 60, and never lived in the castle which was only completed after his death.

The Greyhound hotel built in 1788, with its magnificent original Georgian frontage, dominates the Market Place. Behind the hotel, between the Scarthin and Water Lane, is the village's most pleasing and attractive feature, the large Mill Pond with the constantly turning water-wheel at its head. Arkwright channelled water from here to power his first mill.

He built several pools or collecting points along the course of a stream which tumbles down in a series of waterfalls beside the Via Gellia road from Bonsall, the Mill Pond being the final collecting point. From here the water was channelled to the mill by a series of chutes, and carried over the road by a cast-iron launder (dated 1821) and into the mill.

Perhaps the most prominent of Arkwright's constructions is Masson Mill, built alongside the Derwent in 1784 and still in use today. This massive red brick mill with its unusual convex weir spanning the river still bears the legend 'Sir Richard Arkwright Co.' high on its frontage which faces the A6 between Cromford crossroads and Matlock Bath.

North Street is a long row of three-storey houses built of local gritstone, which Arkwright had built for his factory workers in 1777. It stands on the left side of Cromford Hill a little way up from the Market Place.

Modern-day Cromford is a place of poets and artists attracted by the idyllic romanticised rural setting of the picturesque mill-pond with its resident pair of swans, and the nostalgic atmosphere of the raised promenaded walk along the Scarthin, with its high terracing, wonderful sloping gardens and fine views of the rolling green landscape which rises amongst the towering limestone rocks around the village.

The Scarthin rises from a comer of the Market Place, narrowing as it reaches the Boat Inn (1772) which stands opposite the post-office, and then broadens into a very attractive iron-railed promenade with its war memorial displaying the names of the valiant men of The Scarthin who fell in the First World War.

Scarthin Books has a central location along the promenade in a three-storey building literally packed from floor to ceiling with the largest selection of modern and antiquarian books in the County.

At the western end of the Scarthin is the Primitive Methodist Chapel of 1853, and across the Mill Pond on Water Lane is the well-supported Cromford Methodist Church. Below the Market Place and in the shadow of the limestone cliff stands the Community Centre and a small garden of remembrance with a Memorial dedicated to the men of Cromford who fell in the Second World War.

On the opposite side of the A6 at Cromford Crossroads stands the tiny wooden structure of the Tor Café which opened in 1949 and which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Kath and Doreen have run the Tor Café now for a quarter of a century and still serve arguably the best cup of tea and bacon sandwich for miles!

From the crossroads, Mill Lane leads to Lea Bridge and Holloway, passing Rock House on the right, which stands opposite Arkwright's much-restored mill complex with a new visitor's centre which is open throughout the year, A little further on is the Canal Wharf and the start of the Cromford Canal - another of Arkwright's projects,opened in 1793 after his death.

The canal was 14 miles long, joining the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill. It enjoyed many years of use until the coming of the railways in the 1860's. Now lovingly restored by the Cromford Canal Society and the Derbyshire County Council, this section of the canal hosts a large car park, picnic area and visitor centre.

On the opposite side of the road, set in the in sylvan surroundings by the Derwent stands the Parish Church of St. Mary's, originally intended as a private chapel for Willersley Castle.

Sir Richard Arkwright died on 3 August 1792, and was buried at Matlock Church, but his remains were later removed to St. Mary's when it was completed in 1797, and today the gravestones of the Arkwright family stand in the shade of the churchyard trees by the river.

St.Mary's was re-built in 1839 and contains memorials to the Arkwrights. Just beyond the church stands the fine 15th-century bridge across the Derwent and its unusual tiny fishing temple with the dedication 'Piscatoribus Sacrum' carved into the ancient stonework.

The wide open spaces of Cromford Meadows open to the south, cricket having been played here for at least two centuries. It's still home to the Cromford Cricket Club, and the Meadows complex also caters for the sports of rugby and soccer, and the Cromford Steam Fair is held there annually. The old road to Starkholmes climbs the eastern slope of the valley with Cromford Railway Station, a gem of early railway architecture, at its foot.

Today the clamour of industry no longer resounds in Cromford Dale; all is sunk into the past, but Arkwright's industrial heritage remains in testimony to Cromford's illustrious history set amidst the fine rock scenery beside the Derwent deep in the heart of Derbyshire's limestone country.

Facilities:
Bank: No, nearest Matlock
Shops: Yes
Pubs: Greyhound Hotel (Tel: 01629 822551), Bell Inn (Tel: 01629 822102), Boat Inn (Tel: 01629 823282)


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