The Mills of Derbyshire by Pevsner
"The Buildings of England - Derbyshire " by Nikolaus Pevsner. Extracts regarding ESCC mills. Cromford: It was at Cromford that Richard Arkwright started the first successful cotton-spinning mill worked by water power. The foundation date is 1771, and the original mill still stands...it is three storeys high but was originally five, two storeys having been removed after a fire in 1930. The stone block at the W end of the group is also early (before 1777): three storeys, mullioned windows, and lintels and sills forming continuous bands. Of the big seven storey block at the E end, under construction according to Bray in 1777, only fragments remain after a fire in the C.19. The buildings of C.1790 along the road have no windows on the lower floors and suggest a defence against industrial spies and rioters. The buildings, all constructed with timber and not fireproof like those at Belper, are grouped round an irregular courtyard. It looks rather grim now and must always have look