Cromford was revolutionised with the introduction of the cotton mills bought by Richard Awkright in 1771.

He was also responsible for building the Greyhound Hotel as part of his "model village".

Hoses were built for the wporkers, when the young men wove yarn into stocks and their wives and children, some as young as seven, would work upto 12 hours a day at the mill.

With the construction of the Cromford Canal on 1782, the area was opened up to an increased trade.

At a length of 14.5 miles, it joined the Nottingham Canal at Langley Bridge.

Boats carrying stone, lead, cotton, hay and straw, coal and pottery would use the canal.

Cromford also appears in the Domesday Book as an outlining village of the manor of Wirksworth.

Originally a hamlet nestling beside the "crooked ford" crossing the river Derwent, it became known as Crunesford, Crumford and finally Cromford.

Willersley Castle was built by Richard Awkright around 1780 as his fmaily home, but he never lived there.

It was burnt down in 1791 but Richard died before it was re-built.

Masson Mill, now a retail outlet on the A6, was built in 1784. It suceeded Arkwright's first mill on Mill Lane which was the first water powered cotton mill in the world.

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