Tinsmith’s Cottage dates from 1765 and is located in the village of Cromford, near Matlock, in the Peak District.
Part of the Derwent Valley world heritage site, this beautiful cottage was once a local lead miner’s home, housing two families upstairs and animals downstairs. The original owner was tasked with making the pots and pans for the whole village.
Cromford is well known through its association with Sir Richard Arkwright, who in 1771 established here the world’s first successful water-powered cotton-spinning mill. Directly outside the front of the cottage is what is known to locals as the ‘Bear Pit’. This was constructed by Arkwright in 1785, twenty years after the cottage was built, to regulate the supply of water powering the mill.
The Bear Pit is a stone-lined pit sunk into Cromford Sough, the drainage point for the Wirksworth lead mines. The dam created inside the structure held the water and forced it into an underground channel connected to the Greyhound Pond. This is also manmade and provided the main source of water driving the water wheels for the mills. The sough had never been known to freeze, and was thus ideal for powering a mill. It may have been called the ‘Bear Pit’ as it was once thought to have been used for bear baiting!
Cromford was transformed by the decision to build the mill here, becoming the first purpose-built industrial village. Arkwright built houses for the workers, a new corn mill, a hotel, and started the construction of Willersley castle and St Mary’s Church – these last two being completed after his death in 1792. In 1786 he was knighted for his work in the cotton industry, becoming the first commoner to receive a knighthood. The revolutionary methods Sir Richard Arkwright began in Cromford spread to the rest of the world.
Did you know Cromford has its own flag?
The flag was first designed in 2006 by Clem Wilson, a resident of Cromford, and flew for the first time in 2010. It was then officially recognised by the Flag Institute in June 2016. The design incorporates elements that represent a mill, millpond and wheel to representthe influence of Sir Richard Arkwright. The colour scheme of the flag represents both the scheme of the Derbyshire County flag, and also the colours of Arkwright’s coat of arms.
To find out more about the history of Cromford, please visit:
www.cromfordvillage.co.uk
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