Although Derby’s image is justifiably that of an industrial city, it is one of just five UK cities that can boast a UNESCO world heritage site on account of the historic mills that line the River Derwent, which are within car-free walking distance of the city centre. The resounding sense of history as you walk this route, arises from the mills along the Derwent Valley, that were part of an 18th-century global shift in how we lived. Derby lays claim to the world’s first factory, and it was here that the factory system was introduced and mankind began working to a clock. Derby also holds a special place in the hearts of those who cherish the protection of urban green spaces: it is home to 300 green spaces and gave the country Derby Arboretum – the first and oldest surviving public park in England.
[1] From the tourist information centre on Market Place, cross Full Street.
Its humdrum, modern appearance belies its status as the former address of Jedediah Strutt, who invented the stitching that holds your socks up in 1759. At Derby cathedral is a statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie on horseback. It was here, in 1745, that the young pretender to the Crown cut his losses and turned northwards. Across the cathedral green, a 1720s silk mill – said to be Britain’s first factory – now houses the Derby Museum of Industry and History. The building also marks the beginning of the 25km/15-mile Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site route upstream to Matlock Bath. The mill used to stand on a narrow island in the river Derwent (now paved over) but still abuts the river, where you pick up a path.
[2] Pass first under a modern bridge and then a Victorian-restored bridge adjacent to St Mary’s Bridge Chapel.
This medieval chapel – open at weekends – dates to the 13th century and is visibly sagging at the seams. But it’s a rare English example of a chapel located on a bridge that remains in use for regular worship.
Continue upstream to pass under Handyside Bridge, with its modestly striking bowstring girders.
[3] Keep to the paved path, a little away from the river, and at the gates to Darley Park, take the lower path, striking out across the wide open space to the far right-hand corner, aiming for swings and Dean’s Field car park. Here, head for the Abbey Inn to enter the factory village of Darley Abbey, where 200 houses were built for the cotton mill workers across the river.
St Matthew’s church is visible up the hillside, but the history of the community at Darley Abbey dates to the 12th century when the Augustinian Abbey was founded. While the abbey was destroyed in 1538, fragments of it can be spotted in houses along Abbey Lane. The only significant remains were converted, with some style, into the Abbey Inn in 1980.
[4] Follow Darley Street along the river, with the weir and wooden footbridge at your side. The lane curves right to cross the river (you may be asked to pay a £1 toll) to enter the Boar’s Head Cotton Mill complex, which operated from 1783 right up to the 1960s. Today it is occupied by small local businesses but, because the factory and all the auxiliary buildings survived, it’s reckoned to be the most intact mill complex in the world. It pays not to get too whimsical though: the factory was powered by the nimble fingers of women and children; the men toiled across the river in Darley Abbey’s paper, china clay and corn mills.
[5] Walk through the mill complex and after 100 yards turn right into Folly Road. Cross a footbridge and follow the path, bearing right at a fork to keep by the river. The landscaping is graceful here, and Darley playing fields is lined with sycamores and alders. Further on you pass a green space known as Little Chester, once a timber-built Roman fort called ‘Derventio’ – which means ‘many oak trees’ - and gave its name to the River Derwent. This is Derby’s oldest suburb and you’ll see the remains of a Roman defensive ditch. Shortly afterwards, you cross Handyside Bridge to retrace your steps to the silk mill and the city centre.