Boundary of the World Heritage Site

The boundary of the World Heritage Site encloses an area of approximately 1229 hectares and the site measures some 24km stretching from Masson Mill in the north to Derby Silk Mill in the south, with a buffer zone of approximately 4363 hectares. The majority of the buildings are currently in use and the changing nature of the economy and pressures for development will require careful control. The key buildings and industrial settlements, and their care and maintenance, are the responsibility of numerous owners. The Government and several local planning authorities are responsible for the protection and enhancement of the historic built and natural environment through statutory planning powers.

The boundary of the World Heritage Site was outlined in the Tentative List of UK World Heritage Sites published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in June 1999. It has been defined through field observation by applying the following principles:

• Definition of the extant historic topography (buildings, features, landscapes) derived from, and exemplifying, the historical theme of the innovation of the textile mill and the economic and social infrastructure of the site as the ‘cradle of the factory system’.
• Coincidence, wherever possible, with existing statutory and other formal designations within administrative areas where these are relevant to the criteria for inscription, taking account of historical ownership but omitting any contiguous zones of different character, or significant areas where the character and/or archaeological integrity has been lost or degraded.
• Delineation as a single entity, without detailed outlying elements, linked by linear features where these are the defining characteristic of the historic topography and contribute to the site’s universal value.
• Tests of authenticity applied in relation to the historical evolution of a cultural landscape with particular regard to the archaeological integrity of form and landscape character, rather than necessarily the outward appearance of individual buildings.

The maps of the World Heritage Site, showing its boundary in green and the Buffer Zone in orange is available to download as a pdf here. It is a very large file, so may take some time to download but you can use the zoom button on the pdf so that you can see more of the details of the boundaries.

Map showing the Boundary of the World Heritage Site