Discover more about the World Heritage Site

You may live here, work here, go to school here, visit regularly, have a passion for history and heritage – whatever the reason, if you want to discover more about the World Heritage Site, or get more involved – welcome!

Learning

Here you can find teaching resources, details of school visits, or school projects to get involved with.

There are details of learning opportunities for people of all ages, so you can extend your knowledge, or learn new skills.

If you’re planning a visit to the Derwent Valley Mills with your family, find out more about it with our family friendly information, including our new Children’s Guide. You can download it as a pdf, or watch a film about it, or pick up a free copy when you visit.

History and Development

If you want to discover what actually happened here during the Industrial Revolution, the whole history, as we know it, of the Mills, the owners, and the communities they built, is set out here. Do you live in one of the millworker’s cottages? You might find out more about it, in this section.

Projects

You can find news about projects which you could get involved with, volunteering opportunities across the World Heritage Site, and details of books, downloadable leaflets and newsletters that give more information.

Research

If you are interested in research, either for personal pleasure, or to further your educational aspirations, or to help to add to our knowledge of the World Heritage Site – or a combination of all these and more, please do visit the Research area on this page. Here you will find, recent research papers submitted to us for publication and verification, details of our Research Framework, which encourages new research into the history and culture of the site, and news about our Research Workshops for those setting out on this exciting journey into the past.

Volunteer

Here you will find details of volunteering opportunities along the site and information specifically for our volunteers.