Belper North Mill Trust

The Belper North Mill Trust at Strutt's North Mill

The Belper North Mill Trust runs the Derwent Valley Visitor Centre and an accredited museum in "Strutt's North Mill" in Belper, part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site where, in the 18th century, the factory system was born, cotton spinning was revolutionised and building technology and the world of work changed forever.

Once a part of the Strutt family's extensive Belper mills complex and powered by the River Derwent, the North Mill (1804) was designed by William Strutt to be fire-resistant and is one of the earliest completely iron-framed mills in the world. Here using with the water-frame spinning technology devised by his former partner, Richard Arkwright, Jedediah Strutt and his family helped to introduce mechanised cotton spinning to the Derwent Valley, an industry that formed the mainstay of Belper and the surrounding area for over 200 years.

The Belper North Mill Trust's mission is to protect and to promote the industrial heritage of the North Mill and of the Derwent Valley for the benefit of the public. With its volunteers the Trust works to share the story of the mills and the surrounding Strutt community, the world's first 'cotton town' and of this part of the lovely River Derwent, in 'the valley that changed the world'.

The Trust is a registered charity.