| Administrative History | In 1788, a canal was proposed to link the southern side of the Peak District to the Erewash Canal. The canal was supported by numerous local businessmen but the strongest voice by far was Sir Richard Arkwright who owned the cotton mills at Cromford. Arkwright was finding Cromford a very difficult place to get his goods in and out of. He desperately needed a reliable and cheap transport system which he hoped a canal could provide. Interest was so great that half of the estimated cost was raised at the second meeting on the subject, with the other half being raised during the following two weeks.
The line was to be 14½ miles long and would serve several mines, quarries, lead-works, the ironworks at Butterley and Somercotes and Arkwright's cotton mills at Cromford. It was to have 3 aqueducts and 4 tunnels of which one, Butterley, would be 2 miles long. There would also be 14 locks, all on the section south of Butterley Tunnel. In September 1791 all the money ran out and the company were forced to take out loans and make calls on shareholders to raise more cash. In February of the following year, the Cromford Canal was opened to the western portal of Butterley Tunnel.
In August 1794, the Cromford Canal was fully opened and became a success right from the start despite having cost twice the estimated cost to build it. By 1830, the increasing success of the canal continued to bring steady increases in dividends which were now just under 20%.
<http://www.cromfordcanal.org.uk/history.html> |
| Custodial History | This volume was donated to Derbyshire Record Office in August 2006. |