The 18th century cotton mill at Lea Bridge
is so concealed by
later buildings that it is visible now only from
the air. Yet
within the interstices of the Smedley factory the
original
mill has survived surprisingly intact. It was planned
and
built in 1783 by Peter Nightingale, Richard
Arkwright’s financier and landlord in Cromford;
and Benjamin Pearson junior, hitherto one of
Richard Arkwright’s trusted employees. It
was not an enterprise that Arkwright
had authorised and he pursued Nightingale through
the courts; but the mill
continued to operate. It was built on the Lea brook,
a stream which
already powered a lead smelting mill and a rolling
mill both in
Nightingale’s possession, but which was capable
of further development.
During 1784 and 1785 the stream’s capacity
was enhanced by the creation
of two dams higher up the valley, and there was
a further substantial
investment in 1792 with the creation of a third
dam for the cotton mill. It
was as a result of this development that the existing
corn mill ceased to
operate and Nightingale created a new one higher
up the valley on a site
that is now known as Pear Tree Farm.
Much physical evidence of these developments remains. The dams and watercourses are discernible on the ground and the lead smelting site is visible in the form of slag heaps even though all the buildings have gone; so also have the mills below the cotton mill, of which the hat factory was the largest. The cotton mill itself, however, has enjoyed an extraordinary longevity.
In 1818 it was taken over by the Smedley family, who after a decade attempting to make a success of the business as a woollen spinning mill adapted it for the production of cotton and wool yarns, from which the Company’s knitters made high quality knitwear. This was the work of John Smedley (1803-1874) who, from successful experiments in the 1820s in mixing cotton and merino wool, was able to produce a range of high quality products. John Smedley was content to sell his knitwear through the great hosiery houses such as Brettles or Morleys, but after his death the firm gradually developed its own retail brand for which it is now known world-wide.
Of all the first generation Arkwright sites
in the Derwent Valley only at Lea Bridge has
there been continuous textile production. Lea Mills
remains a major source of employment
in the area.
