Over the years the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site has been used to inspire many different poets. We have shared some here for you to enjoy and be inspired by.

Constella OperaBallet took viewers on a virtual journey of enchanting performances, spinning tales through music, dance, song, theatre and design to explore and celebrate Darley Abbey’s place in history and the wider Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Spoken word pieces by She Speaks UK poets part of the Great Place Scheme from 2020

A performance and video documentation exploring the heritage of Willersley Castle in Cromford, Derbyshire and in particular its role as a maternity hospital during the Second World War.

An outdoor pop-up exhibition of works produced during the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site’s Great Place Scheme, exhibited on the Cromford Canal and Cromford Mills in 2021

A community arts project with five sculptured vessels depicting the different attributes and areas of the valley, characterised by the river with textile ‘Meki Meki’ characters inside. Includes worksheets to guide poetry and textile making activities for all.

A contemporary textiles installation and atmospheric lantern lit walk was created for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site during October 2019.

An interactive art installation, designed by artist Jo Fairfax, as a water and cycle-powered drawing machine which took inspiration from Sir Richard Arkwright’s early career as he started out his journey as entrepreneur, inventor and architect of the modern factory system.

A new sound composition in the historic railway workshops at High Peak Junction.

A series of 3D collages, to make a bespoke pop up installation and experience aboard Birdswood the trip boat on the Cromford Canal.

Specially crafted pieces of music, poetry, performances and activities as part of Belper Arts Festival.

A poem by Matt Black created as part of the DerwentWISE project 2014 – 2019

Fact and Fabrication was a community based project blending historical research and creativity inspired by the Derwent Valley Mills.

The Developer The Developer was an innovative arts project which took place at the John Smedley factory in April 2013 as a part of the FORMAT Photography festival which is based in Derby. The theme for the year was ‘factory’ and this Arts Council funded project was developed with Louise Clements of FORMAT and Cally […]

During 2012/13 the World Heritage Site worked with the Jonathan Vickers Fine Art Award to support the fifth resident artist tasked with responding to a sense of place within Derbyshire. The award is one of the most generous art prizes within the United Kingdom and this time decided to centre on the Derwent Valley as the inspiration for the artist.

Derwent Pulse, a Derwent Valley Mill World Heritage Site commission by Charles Monkhouse, was a light flow the length of the Derwent that explored the river and its heritage.

The Threads project was set up to capture the oral history, memories and reminiscences of people who used to work in the Derwent Valley Mills, or lived nearby. These memories date from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, up until the late 80s, when the last mills in Belper closed.

re:connaissance was a one-year project which re-interpreted, through visual art and oral history, the wartime stories of Belper and the wider Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, as well as unearthing memories and memorabilia.

The Bindings project took place during 2004 with artists Tan Draig (textiles) and Lucy Banwell (writing). It was run by Fleet Arts.

Q Arts were commissioned to produce a digital, projection based, installation piece at mills within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Watch This Space was a unique programme of arts events created for unusual spaces. Combining multi media installation, exhibition and performance, each project unlocked the doors to areas of historic buildings not often visited by the public.

The Sites and Visions activities offer an insight into potential ways of engaging in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage site through creativity.

Focusing on the reasons for the mills being built within the Derwent Valley – the power of the River Derwent and its tributaries – this project brough in artist Johnny White to work with a wide range of communities and age groups to produce moving water-powered sculptures.

A regular at the Discovery Days Festival Pete Castle shared these songs and stories with us in 2020 as part of our online festival that year.