A Century of Change
A Century of Change
In 1921, the earliest aerial view of Belper was taken from a hot air balloon. It focussed on the town’s mill complex, including the Round Mill and Jubilee Clock Tower, but also their surroundings, including: on the hillside, Bridge Hill House, home of the Strutt family who built the mills from 1776.
100 years later, in 2021, thanks to grant support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Partnership was able to recreate this historic photograph, to illustrate the changes made over the past century. The Round, West and South Mills have gone, and a single-storey factory (now unused) sits on the west side. Bridge Hill House has also gone, and the site redeveloped for housing. But the North and East Mills are still there, as are the River Gardens.