Darley Abbey Mills (North Complex) North Mill And Engine House And Boiler House

Darley Abbey Mills (North Complex): North Mill, Engine House and Boiler House

This is a multi-component former manufacturing complex forming the northern part of an extensive multi-phase cotton textile factory. At the time of inspection, parts were in use as a small industrial estate. The complex dates from around 1825, was enlarged in the late 19th century, and underwent further alterations in the early 20th century. It was built by the Evans family of Darley Abbey.

Materials and Construction

The buildings are constructed of red brick over a gritstone base with slate roof coverings.

Plan and Layout

The complex forms the middle yard of the manufacturing site, subdivided by Old Lane. It was originally powered by watercourses flowing through the site, fed by the River Derwent. The complex comprises a functionally related group of buildings: the North Mill, Engine House, and Boiler House. The western end has accretional structures relating to later site development but these are not of special interest.

North Mill: Exterior

The North Mill is a 13-bay L-shaped range of three storeys with an attic, aligned east to west, with a 6-bay north-to-south return at the east end. It has multi-paned sash windows beneath flat stone lintels. A single-bay projection at the north end of the return range and a full-height loading bay at the west end, with a single-storey linking block, were added in the mid to late 19th century. A 3-bay single-storey Engine House and 4-bay single-storey Boiler House were added in the late 19th century at the east end, blocking a number of original openings.

North Mill: Interior

The interior is of fireproof construction, incorporating cylindrical cast-iron columns with transverse brick jack arching. The second floor ceiling and attic floor have exposed timbers protected by sheet metal. The roof features cast-iron and wrought-iron construction with a single set of cast-iron struts and single wrought-iron king-rods. The Engine House and Boiler House have timber king-post roofs, with the Engine House roof displaying more decorative treatment. The single-bay projection at the north end has a mezzanine-level lime-ash floor supported on fish-bellied cast-iron joists and a roof incorporating fish-bellied cast-iron purlins.

History and Development

The North Mill is thought to date from the mid-1820s, sharing characteristics with the mills of the southern complex but in a more fully developed form, with more generous floor heights than the main mills and a roof structure similar to, but more simplified than, that of West Mill.

Originally, power came from the southern complex via a shaft running under the yard and entering the building at the west end, where transmission evidence survives in the stair compartment. The Engine House appears on an 1881 map and housed a steam engine. In 1917, a suction gas plant with a 180 hp twin-cylinder horizontal engine was installed.

Historical Significance

This complex of structures forms part of the textile manufacturing site at Darley Abbey, which traded under the name of Boars Head Mills. The complex is exceptional in its completeness of survival and displays important aspects of the development of fireproofing technology for textile factories. The site forms part of a closely related network of pioneer textile manufacturing sites in the Derwent Valley. Thomas Evans was an associate of Richard Arkwright of Cromford, and the Evans family was related by marriage to the Strutt family, who operated mills in Belper, Milford, and Derby. Darley Abbey holds comparable historic and architectural significance alongside these settlements. The mill complex retains all of its major early buildings as well as 19th-century additions, many of which are distinguished by the use of iron roofs.