Waterpower in the Derbyshire Derwent Catchment
PhD thesis title
Climate change mitigation: Learning from the past to unlock the hydropower potential of the Derbyshire Derwent catchment. Dr Ian Jackson, December 2024
Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Geography (Science), School of Geography, University of Nottingham
Download the DDC Waterpower site gazetteer
Download the DDC hydroelectric power potential calculation
Thesis Abstract
For Derbyshire communities seeking climate change mitigation opportunities, the hydropower (HEP) potential of the historic water-powered textile mills of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS) is an obvious starting point. Waterpower is a core story of the DVMWHS, in the heart of the Derbyshire Derwent catchment (DDC), but there is limited understanding of how the early industrial watermill owners overcame the natural and man-made challenges they faced, many similar to those faced today. This research aims to improve our understanding of the harnessing, management and use of waterpower, particularly during the Georgian period, to identify what lessons we can learn to repower the remaining HEP opportunities on revitalised DDC waterways, supporting our climate change mitigation efforts.
DDC waterpower sites, by waterway, were identified using historic OS maps and a gazetteer produced. Individual watermill timelines were produced, capturing each mill’s use, power and water management development. The gazetteer included historic mills, non-mills (e.g. Chatsworth House) and man-made water sources for power (e.g. lead mine drainage soughs). External factors were also considered, capturing the wider impacts of political, economic and legislative changes on ‘milling power’ over time.
Historically, government support has been critical for waterpower, with parliament repeatedly listening to the industrial watermill owners, protecting their milling power, including in the Salmon Fishery Act (1861). However, run-of-river (small) HEP collapsed in the 1950s-70s, with the government focussed on building the fossil-fuelled electricity grid, and the newly formed water authorities charging the mills for ‘borrowing’ water for power. From the 1990s, the climate change driven need for renewable energy saw a mini revival in small HEP, but the ending of government subsides supporting small, local, renewable energy in 2019, paused this.
This research uncovered the millowners’ wider influence on river stewardship, using the mills’ weirs, floodgates and sluices to control the waterways, including flood management, maintaining fisheries and river morphology, issues critical to HEP development today. Following the closure of run-of-river HEP from the 1950s, many weirs, floodgates and sluices were no longer used or maintained, and today are viewed as redundant barriers by river ecologists. Much of this infrastructure remains, providing historic watermill sites with an opportunity to be repurposed as green power stations, and to play a role in current river stewardship challenges, as they did in the past.
Research Framework
Ian Jackson participated in the development of the DVMWHS Research Framework in 2016, co-authoring three research objectives;
- 4D Review the technological innovations and adaptions that were instrumental in the development of the low-carbon, factory-based industry of the Derwent Valley
- 8D Investigate the harnessing of hydropower from rivers in the Derwent catchment and the reconciliation of competing interests
- 11D Investigate the potential to develop the Derwent Valley as a model for the development of sustainable low-carbon economies.
In addition to the three objectives above this research aimed to improve our understanding of framework Agenda Theme 4 (The low-carbon industrial revolution) and research objective 10C (Investigate the impact of human modifications to the hydrological landscape of the Derwent Valley and identify strategies for improved water management). The multi-discipline research touches on many other aspects and identifies further gaps in our knowledge, such as the chronology, engineering design, function and impacts of the many weirs along the length of the River Derwent. The use of waterpower in the earlier lead mining industry, including the use of sough (mine drainage) waters, still flowing, overground and underground is also a gap in our current knowledge.
See more at the DVMWHS Research Wiki
