Building 17 at Cromford Mill

Late C18 cotton spinning mill, altered and converted into office use and a visitor exhibition in 2014.

MATERIALS: constructed of Millstone grit with hipped slate roof and timber sash windows.

PLAN: long and rectangular in plan form, orientated east to west, with apsidal eastern end.

EXTERIOR: the north elevation faces the courtyard and has 12 bays, with timber sash windows of eight over eight panes, with secondary glazing, four doorways and evidence of removal of external additions. Apsidal east end has one bay of timber sash windows with eight over eight panes and a doorway and is linked on two floors to Building 16 by a brick arched bridge. The west end of the building was connected to the first mill (Building 18) by a brick bridge lit by a small window. A Gibbs surround doorway provides access into Building 18.

The south elevation facing the road has 12 bays, with timber sash windows of eight over eight panes, with secondary glazing, and absence of windows at ground floor level, with two infilled windows and a domestic-scale door.

INTERIOR: the ground floor is partly open plan and is currently used as exhibition space, housing the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Visitor Centre. Plasterboard walls have been used to seal in contamination from the former legacy of the building’s use as a colour works.

Recent alterations include the insertion of a modern central staircase and lift, and mainly glazed partitions used to subdivide floors one to four to create individual offices. Corridors have been created to the front of the building on each floor, with modern doors and partitioning. The top floor retains more of its open plan layout, with the original roof trusses partially visible.