Derwent Valley Mills - World Heritage Site

A £3.8m scheme to redesign Cathedral Green will reflect and interpret a number of the industrial features related to the mill which once occupied this valuable public space immediately south of the historic Silk Mill. The paths and flower beds that occupy the area today provide no clues to the former mill race, bridge and doubling shop which once stood here and were a vital part of the Silk Mill. The doubling shop, where silk thread was ‘doubled’ to make it stronger, collapsed in the early 1890s. The mill race and bridge survived into the early 1970s when the whole site was cleared of buildings, the mill race was filled-in and covered over and the area landscaped as a public space.

As part of the scheme Derby City Council has brought in archaeologists from the University of Sheffield (ARCUS) to investigate the area. Following a study of historic maps and documents the team has excavated of a series of trenches designed to find out what survives below ground and establish where these features stood. So far the excavations have identified the former cobbled surfacing, the edges of the mill race and uncovered part of an angled stone shearwater that formed part of the central pier for the bridge across the mill race. It is hoped the results will inform the new landscaping design and allow visitors to Cathedral Green to understand more about the important industrial history beneath their feet.