ABOUT THE SITE

Richard Arkwright built his showpiece Masson Mill in Matlock Bath in 1783, twelve years after he built his first water-powered mill at Cromford and fourteen years after his first mill in Nottingham. Masson Mill was built on the River Derwent which gave Richard Arkwright access to a power source ten times greater than that at the Cromford site. Masson Mill shows how Richard Arkwright had grown in wealth and confidence. The design of the building was unique and an important advance on the style of the Cromford Mill. By putting the staircase, the offices and the lavatories in a central projection on the front of the mill, Richard Arkwright was able to leave the production floors unencumbered and uncluttered. The “Masson Mill pattern” of design was the prototype for nascent British and American mill construction.Masson Mills are recognised as the best preserved and finest surviving example of an Arkwright cotton mill. When Masson Mill was built Matlock Bath was already known as a local beauty spot and Richard Arkwright may have been conscious of the appeal of constructing a pleasing building on this site. Certainly, it would seem that the need to build a secure, fortress-like building like Cromford Mill had gone, for Masson Mill features instead an architecturally decorative central tower with Venetian-style windows on each floor.

The mill site has developed over the years into the complex of buildings which can be seen today. Sir Richard Arkwright’s Masson Mills were in continuous production until 1991, when they were one of the oldest continuously working mills in the world. The original 1783 Masson Mill now houses the Working Textile Museum where visitors can see and experience a unique collection of authentic working textile machinery.

Masson Mills

Masson MillsHow to make a Group Booking

Contact the Working Textile Museum reception on 01629 581001. Telephone bookings may be made from 10am to 4pm every day. All groups are catered for, including primary and secondary school groups to university student groups and initial teacher training groups. Booking is only necessary if a guide is required. Groups are welcome to visit without booking if they choose to self-guide with the printed tour guide available free of charge at the museum.

Charges

A guide is provided free of charge if the group is larger than 20 paying visitors. For groups fewer than 20 there is a £7.00 guide fee.

Opening Times

The Museum is open every day throughout the year (except Christmas Day and Easter Day),

  • Mon-Fri 10am-4pm,
  • Sat 11am-5pm,
  • Sun 11am-4pm.

How to get there

By coach – Sir Richard Arkwright’s Masson Mills are situated on the A6, Matlock Bath to Derby road, just south of Matlock Bath.

Parking – There is room for a coach to park and drop groups off outside the mills. The coach lay-by opposite the mills is linked to the mills by a pedestrian crossing. Coach parking is available on site.

By train – The Derby to Matlock train stops at Cromford and at Matlock Bath. Masson Mills is approximately a fifteen minute walk from either station.

What is available for school groups?

  • Activity sheets for school groups, applicable to Key Stages One, Two and Three are available to download and print from www.massonmills.co.uk
  • A guided tour of the Working Textile Museum and mill site led by a mill worker in costume. Children can dress up as mill workers, and enjoy a hands on experience of how it feels to work in a mill. They can work a cotton winding machine, hear stories from and ask questions of the spinners and weavers working in the mill. Cotton threads and materials can be handled. The tour takes approximately one hour, including an introductory talk. There is a handling collection of bobbins, threads and materials
  • A room is available where children can leave their bags and coats whilst on the tour and eat their lunch if it is pre-booked, or if it is raining
  • There is a picnic area by the river
  • Self-guided tour sheets are available for group leaders if required
  • Information books for adults and children are available from site shop
  • Interpretive signage
  • Audio visual display in the museum shop
  • Tours can be individually tailored to the specific requirements of groups

Site Highlights - Exploration and Discovery

  • Walk in the footsteps of Sir Richard Arkwright
  • Discover what it felt like to work in an 18th century cotton mill
  • See the largest bobbin collection in the world, which is housed at Masson Mills
  • Handle a huge range of textile threads and materials. Samples are available from the guide.
  • Learn how to “doff ”a spinning frame and see if you are good enough to be offered a job by Sir Richard Arkwright!
  • See and hear the clattering old looms still making the cloth that the children’s costumes are made from
  • Find out about the life of a cotton worker
  • ‘Clock-in’ to work at the mill
  • Explore the site with its authentic historic working spinning,doubling and weaving machinery, some of which are original to Masson Mills.
  • See first-hand the impressive power of the river Derwent (Masson Mills are the only mills Sir Richard Arkwright built on the river Derwent). Discover how the water from the river Derwent was used to drive the machines, and how the river today continues to power the mills with renewable energy, produced on-site by means of state of the art hydroelectric turbines.
  • Stare in amazement at the “Titanic” boilers, which were used to power the steam engine.
  • Discover where Sir Richard Arkwright is said to have tethered his horse.
  • See the original bell which called people to work from the villages of Cromford, Matlock Bath and Bonsall.
  • Combine a half day spent at Masson Mills with a half-day tour of Cromford Village or Cromford Mill.

Provisions for School groups

Baggage Store

There is a secure place to leave lunch bags if required. Please let the Visitor Services Staff know if the group would like to store their bags while they go on the tour.

Lunch Facilities

There is a picturesque picnic area on the river bank, overlooking Sir Richard Arkwright’s famous weir. A large café and restaurant can be found in Masson Mills Shopping Village, where drinks, snacks and meals are available to purchase.

Toilets

There are toilet facilities for male and female and wheelchair users on site.

Classroom and Exhibition facilities

Rooms may be hired from £50 per day. OHPs, screens and flipcharts are available free of charge. All other equipment is available to hire. A full range of catering options are available to groups who book the classroom and exhibition facilities, please enquire for further details on 01629 581001.

Equipment

Groups should bring their own clipboards and pens/pencils. Worksheets can be downloaded from the internet and used in the tour. In wet weather the tour can be adapted to take place indoors.

Shop

There is a souvenir shop in the mills, selling a range of souvenirs suitable for children. They also sell a range of goods that would be helpful to a teacher in planning a topic about the mills. A Family Activity Book called Famous People is also available. This book is intended to help families find out about all the famous people who began the Industrial Revolution in the Derwent Valley, including Richard Arkwright.