Derby, where the factory was born

Derby is pronounced "Darby" and has an unexpected link with Italy: its industrial fortune began in the 18th century with the theft of technological secrets from Piedmont. In the East Midlands, on the banks of the River Derwent, it has about 260,000 inhabitants and is considered one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution: in 1721 the Lombe brothers' silk mill began working here, often described as the world's first modern factory and the starting point of the Derwent Valley, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Derby is also the city of Rolls-Royce engines, of trains and of Royal Crown Derby porcelain, and the southern gateway to the Peak District National Park.

Trains from London St Pancras take about an hour and a half, and East Midlands Airport is about half an hour away. Nottingham is twenty minutes away by train, Birmingham about forty.

From Romans to Vikings

The Romans built a fort on the Derwent called Derventio, in today's Little Chester district. Later the Vikings gave the settlement the Old Norse name Djúra-bý, "the village of the deer", from which Derby derives, and made it one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, together with Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln and Stamford. The city's symbol, however, is not a deer but a ram, the Derby Ram, hero of an old folk song about a gigantic ram and mascot of the local regiment.

In December 1745 Derby was the southernmost point reached by Charles Edward Stuart, the Jacobite prince known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was marching from Scotland to reclaim the throne. In Derby his advisers, fearing they would be surrounded by government armies, persuaded him to turn back: it was the beginning of the retreat that ended at Culloden. An equestrian statue of the prince stands near the cathedral.

The silk mill and industrial espionage in Italy

At the beginning of the 18th century England could not produce quality silk thread: the secret of the silk-throwing machines, the filatoi, was jealously guarded in Piedmont, where exporting their designs was punishable by death. According to the traditional account, a young man from Derby, John Lombe, went to Italy, got himself hired in a silk mill, secretly copied the machine drawings and came home. With his half-brother Thomas he built a large water-powered mill on the Derwent in 1721, with hundreds of workers keeping regular hours under one roof: this is why Derby Silk Mill is often called the world's first factory. Legend adds that John died young, in 1722, poisoned by an Italian agent sent for revenge, but there is no evidence.

The mill's model was later taken up by Richard Arkwright, who in 1771 built the first mechanised cotton mill at Cromford, some twenty kilometres north, and by Jedediah Strutt at Belper. The Derwent Valley, with its mills, workers' villages and canals, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 as the birthplace of the factory system.

Trains, engines and porcelain

In the 19th century Derby became a railway town: in 1844 the Midland Railway made its headquarters here, with great works for building and repairing locomotives and carriages. Trains are still built in the city today, and Derby has been chosen as headquarters of Britain's new state railway body. In 1908 Rolls-Royce arrived, building first its cars and then aero engines here: the famous Merlin engine that powered the Spitfire and the Lancaster in the Second World War, and today jet engines for airliners around the world. It is still the city's largest private employer.

The porcelain tradition dates from the mid-18th century: Royal Crown Derby, which received the Crown's permission to use the royal title, still produces hand-painted porcelain, famous for its rich cobalt blue, red and gold decoration inspired by Japanese Imari ware, and for its animal paperweights. The factory on Osmaston Road has a museum and shop.

What to see in Derby

Museum of Making

The old silk mill, rebuilt after a fire and overlooking the Derwent, became in 2021 the Museum of Making, a free museum devoted to three hundred years of ingenuity and production in Derby. It displays Rolls-Royce engines, railway parts, porcelain, tools and a great "wall" of objects made in the city, and has workshops where young people and adults can design and build. It is the ideal starting point for understanding the city and the Derwent Valley. Don't miss the views of the river from the upper floors, the restored machinery and the stories of the mill workers, many of them children, who spent long days at the spinning frames in the 18th century. Outside, the riverside path leads along the Derwent towards the city's parks and the start of the long valley trail that leads north to Cromford.

The cathedral

Derby Cathedral, dedicated to All Saints, has one of the tallest Gothic towers in England, built in the 16th century, while the body of the church was rebuilt in the 18th century in elegant Georgian style by James Gibbs. Inside are a fine wrought-iron screen by Robert Bakewell and the tomb of Bess of Hardwick, one of the richest and most powerful women of Elizabethan England. Peregrine falcons have nested on the tower for years, and can be watched via webcams and, in spring, from viewpoints set up by volunteers.

The museum and art gallery

Derby Museum and Art Gallery holds the world's largest collection of works by Joseph Wright of Derby, the 18th-century painter famous for scenes lit by a single source of light, a candle, a lamp, a furnace, depicting the science and industry of his day. His best-known painting, A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery, shows a group gathered in the dark around a model of the solar system. The free museum also has archaeology, natural history and Derby porcelain galleries.

The Arboretum

Opened in 1840 and given to the town by industrialist Joseph Strutt, the Derby Arboretum is considered England's first public park designed for all citizens. It was laid out by landscape designer John Claudius Loudon, with trees from around the world along winding paths, and is said to have inspired the designers of New York's Central Park.

Pickford's House and the Roundhouse

On Friar Gate, Pickford's House is the home architect Joseph Pickford built for himself in 1770: it is now a museum of Georgian life, with rooms furnished as they were, the kitchen, the pantry and a period garden, the perfect complement to the paintings of Joseph Wright, who was Pickford's friend. Near the station, the Roundhouse is an 1839 engine shed, one of the oldest railway buildings in the world: a great circular hall with a turntable in the middle, from which locomotives were turned onto tracks arranged like spokes. Restored, it now houses a college, but can be seen from outside and, on certain days, from inside.

The streets of the centre

The historic centre has intimate streets such as Sadler Gate and Iron Gate, with independent shops, pubs and cafés, and the Cathedral Quarter. Friar Gate has elegant Georgian houses and an ornate cast-iron bridge from the old railway. Derby Theatre and the Quad arts centre and cinema enliven the cultural scene.

A day in Derby

A possible itinerary: in the morning start at the Museum of Making on the banks of the Derwent, then walk up to the cathedral and, in spring, look for the peregrines on the tower. Before lunch visit the museum to see Joseph Wright's paintings. In the afternoon stroll through Sadler Gate, Iron Gate and Friar Gate, stopping at Pickford's House, and finish with a walk in the Arboretum. In the evening, a show at Derby Theatre or a pint in one of the centre's historic pubs, some of which keep intact Victorian interiors. The next day take the Derwent Valley line to Cromford.

Around Derby: the Derwent Valley and the Peak District

• Kedleston Hall, a few kilometres north-west: one of England's great neoclassical houses, designed by Robert Adam, with a marble hall inspired by Roman temples, now National Trust.
• Calke Abbey, to the south: a house left just as the National Trust found it in 1985, with rooms crammed with objects, collections of stuffed animals and peeling plaster, nicknamed the "un-stately home".
• Belper and Cromford, along the Derwent Valley: Strutt's and Arkwright's mills, the workers' villages and the Cromford Canal, heart of the UNESCO site.
• Chatsworth House, some forty kilometres north: home of the Dukes of Devonshire, one of the most spectacular in the country, with gardens and fountains.
• The Peak District, with the hills of Dovedale, stone villages and the spa town of Matlock Bath.
• Ashbourne, where every year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday the Royal Shrovetide Football is played, a medieval football match involving the whole town, with goals almost five kilometres apart.

Sport and famous names

Derby County, among the founders of the Football League in 1888, have won two league titles, in 1972 under manager Brian Clough and in 1975, and play at Pride Park. People linked to the city include the Victorian philosopher Herbert Spencer and the painter Joseph Wright. Every autumn the Derby Feste festival fills the streets with outdoor performances.

Living in Derby

Derby has an economy based on advanced manufacturing like few other British cities: Rolls-Royce, train building, Toyota, which has a large car plant nearby, and hundreds of supplier firms. Engineering salaries are good, while house prices remain lower than in the south. The University of Derby trains engineers and technicians. The city also has a varied population, with communities of Punjabi, Kashmiri, Caribbean and, more recently, Eastern European origin, and a very central location: London, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham are all under two hours away by train, and the Peak District is literally on the doorstep, which makes it popular with walkers and cyclists. The traditional shopping centre has suffered from the retail crisis, and the city is investing in restoring historic buildings, including the great Victorian covered market.

Getting there and getting around

• By train: East Midlands Railway trains from London St Pancras take about an hour and a half; there are direct services to Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle. The station is a fifteen-minute walk from the centre.
• By air: East Midlands Airport is linked to Derby by Skylink buses in about half an hour.
• Around Derby: the Derwent Valley line runs to Belper, Cromford and Matlock in under half an hour; for Kedleston, Calke and Chatsworth a car is the most practical choice.

For travel around the rest of the country see trains and transport, and for other cities British cities.

Tips for your visit

• How long: a day for the centre, the cathedral and the museums; another for the Derwent Valley; one or two for the Peak District and Chatsworth.
• When to go: spring for the cathedral's falcons, summer for the Peak District, February for the Ashbourne match.
• Don't miss: Joseph Wright's candlelit paintings, to be enjoyed at leisure in the museum.
• An itinerary: follow the story of the factory from Derby's silk mill to Cromford, travelling up the Derwent Valley by train or bike.

Derby on the map

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