20, 22 & 24, DERBY ROAD

BELPER

950/0/10013 DERBY ROAD 12-NOV-03 20,22&24

II Set of three cottages, the central one a former toll house. c.1800. For the industrialist Jedediah Strutt. Coursed squared stone with plain tile roof and two massive brick ridge stacks. 2 storeys and attic. Symmetrical front facing the road with central projecting gable. Sash or C20 windows under flat arch heads. Left-hand cottage has central door with window to left and a window on both floors to right. Central cottage in the projecting gable has door in the left return, a window on each floor and in attic to the front, and a window on the right return. Right-hand cottage has central door, a window on both floors to left and a window to right. Each gable end has an attic window. Rear has various doors, windows and extensions. INTERIOR. Central cottage has exposed rafters, a winder stair, a c.1800 fireplace and plank doors. HISTORY. In 1793 Jedediah Strutt obtained an Act of Parliament to allow him to construct a private toll road to service his cotton mills and associated activities in Milford and Belper. A Strutt estate map of 1806 shows these cottages with the same ground-plan next to a toll bar across this 'Messrs. Strutts New Road'. This little-altered set of cottages, standing within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, is a significant survival of one of the most important early industrial sites in the country.