20, 22 & 24, DERBY ROAD

20, 22, and 24 Derby Road are a set of three cottages, with the central one serving as a former toll house, built around 1800 for the industrialist Jedediah Strutt. The cottages are constructed from coursed squared stone and feature a plain tile roof with two large brick ridge stacks. They are two stories tall with an attic and have a symmetrical façade facing the road, highlighted by a central projecting gable. The windows are either sash or 20th-century under flat arch heads.

The left-hand cottage has a central door with a window to the left and a window on both floors to the right. The central cottage, located in the projecting gable, has a door on the left side, a window on each floor and in the attic at the front, and a window on the right side. The right-hand cottage features a central door, a window on both floors to the left, and a window to the right. Each gable end includes an attic window. The rear of the cottages has various doors, windows, and extensions.

Inside the central cottage, there are exposed rafters, a winder stair, a fireplace dating from around 1800, and plank doors. Historically, in 1793, Jedediah Strutt received an Act of Parliament to create a private toll road to support his cotton mills and related activities in Milford and Belper. An estate map from 1806 shows these cottages with the same ground plan next to a toll bar on what was known as 'Messrs. Strutts New Road.' This set of cottages, which has seen little alteration, is an important remnant of one of the earliest industrial sites in the country and is located within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.