John Smedley Archives - Planning Design Ltd

Planning success mitigates factory fire risk

11th September 202319th July 2023 by Gary Stringer

Planning & Design Practice have successfully secured full planning permission for the installation of a sprinkler system and associated apparatus at the factory of John Smedley Limited textile manufacturers in Lea Mills, Matlock, Derbyshire. The site is of historic importance as the world’s oldest manufacturing factory in continuous operation. It is the last surviving operational textile mill in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

The sprinkler system is both a health and safety, and insurance requirement for the continued operation of the manufacturing business, which brings considerable employment and other economic benefits to the local area. Evidencing this need and the value of the continued operation of the manufacturer was key in securing planning permission.

The site’s historic importance and location within the Castle Top/Lea Bridge and High Peak Conservation Area, and the Dethick, Lea & Holloway Conservation Area required a detailed heritage impact assessment and design expertise to ensure sympathetic design of the new pump house, water tank, and exterior fittings required for the sprinkler system. This involved choosing an inconspicuous colour scheme, recessed design and incorporating suitable screening.

The design of the proposed additions, consideration of heritage impacts and the clear business need for the development was sufficient to achieve approval from Derbyshire Dales District Council. Planning & Design Practice’s in-house heritage experts are able to respond to the complex requirements for development in Conservation Areas, working collaboratively with our core team of planning practitioners and architectural specialists to secure favourable planning outcomes.

This collaborative approach has formed our strong reputation for providing honest and sound commercial advice, skilled presentation, advocacy and negotiation, with a successful track record since being founded in 2002.

A history of success at John Smedley factory

We have had previous successes with John Smedley Ltd. Planning & Design were previously instructed as planning consultants to deliver a complex set of proposals for redevelopment, conversion and part demolition on a site at the Lea Mills part of the John Smedley factory. The ‘East Site’ was no longer needed for garment manufacture and development was needed to secure a beneficial future use for the land and buildings and to support the company’s development and expansion. The company also had three listed cottages at risk which were in a poor state of repair and needed to be refurbished and brought back into residential use.

Permission was granted for the redevelopment of surplus land and buildings at the factory site to provide 26 new homes, through a combination of conversion and new build.

You can read more about that project at this link.

Planning & Design have a wealth of experience in designing and securing planning permission for commercial projects. We have the required skills to design both small and large scale schemes in-house and tailor the design to the client’s unique specifications. Unsure of your site’s potential? We are also able to provide our professional opinion on the planning potential of your property at the outset.

For more information, or to discuss your proposals please contact us at enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk or phone 01332 347371.

Alice Wibberley (placement student July 2023) with Emily Anderson, Planner, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Quiz

10th January 202314th December 2022 by Gary Stringer

World heritage status was bestowed on the Derwent Valley in 2001 in recognition of its international significance for the developments that took place there in the late 18th century that led to lasting technological and cultural changes which resonated around the world.

Planning & Design Practice regularly work with buildings that are within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS). UNESCO encourages all planning applications that effect WHSs to include a Heritage Impact Assessment in accordance with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) guidance. The site runs from Matlock Bath to Derby and includes mills and purpose-built factory workers houses and unique transport systems many of the properties are Listed Buildings and there are several Conservation Areas.

The complexity of all this wonderful heritage can be confusing for anyone wanting to make alterations to their property or make changes to the use of a building. Our in-house heritage team can provide Heritage Impact Assessments to support your planning applications if you live in the WHS or its buffer zone.

Test your knowledge of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site in our quick quiz:

1: What is the length in kilometres is the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site from North to South?

2: What is the name of the structure in which the mill bell on top of Masson Mill is situated?

3: In 1771 Richard Arkwright built Cromford Mill what is the name of the water source he used to power the mill?

4: Cromford Station was part of the Manchester, Matlock, Buxton, and Midlands Junction Railway, now known as the Derwent Valley Line, but it’s also famous for its use by what Brit pop band for its record cover?

5: Planning & Design recently helped enable the restoration of the four workers cottages adjacent to John Smedley’s Mill at Lea Bridge. John Smedley (1803-1874) wasn’t the original owner of the mill complex, who was the original owner who had a famous daughter?

6: What was special about the design of the rebuilt 1804 North Mill in Belper?

7: There are several well-known textile mills within the Derwent Valley Mills WHS but what is the name of the former paper mill in Little Eaton that sits on the banks of the River Derwent?

8: What year was the Silk Mill at Derby built?
A. 1771
B. 1804
C. 1721

Scroll down for answers!

Our Heritage Team

Director Jon Millhouse specialises in heritage planning and is a Full Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. Architectural team leader Lindsay Cruddas is a registered Specialist Conservation Architect. Our Heritage Assistant Ruth Gray recently completed a Masters in Public History and Heritage at the University of Derby.

We use our experience to provide the right level of detail to accompany applications for planning permission and listed building consent. For more information on our team, and the Heritage Services we offer please contact us on 01332 347371.

Answers:

24K
Cupola
Bonsall Brook.
“Some Might Say” is a song by English rock band Oasis. It was released as the first single on 24 April 1995 from their second studio album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995).
Peter Nightingale built the complex in 1783 powered by the Lea Brook his daughter was Florence Nightingale.
After a fire in 1803 that destroyed Belper North Mill William Strutt was the first to systematically tackle the threat of fire in textile mills by first cladding with plaster and then by the use of iron and brick. Every aspect of the North Mill is was designed to resist combustion.
Peckwash Mill. Paper mills supported the textile mills using the cotton waste as a raw material to produce wrapping for parcels before they were dispatched to customers, the paper was also used for admin purposes.
1721. The silk mill was the first large scale factory style production complex to be powered by a single undershot wheel. The mill was five storeys high 33.5m long and 12 m wide. By 1730 300 people are said to be employed at the Silk Mill.

Heritage Highlight: From Nightingale to Nesfield

29th November 202211th May 2021 by Gary Stringer

Our Director, Jon Millhouse, a Chartered Town Planner and a Full Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, provides an interesting overview on a number of historic properties that Planning & Design Practice Ltd have worked on, featuring the world’s oldest manufacturing factory and healthcare pioneer Florence Nightingale.

Over the past few years, we have been fortunate enough to work on a number of important historic properties in and around the villages of Lea and Holloway in Derbyshire, each with a fascinating and often interlinked history.

Wakebridge farm, between Holloway and Crich, where we obtained consent in 2019 for restoration and redevelopment into a hotel, restaurant, creamery, and sheep dairy, was originally a mediaeval manor house and chapel. A 15th century pinfold door still survives in the kitchen of the farmhouse. The present house was built in 1772 by Peter Nightingale, local landowner and lead smelter.

Peter lived at nearby Lea Hall. I visited Lea Hall a few years ago to provide some planning advice. It is a delightfully formal, Georgian house (although with much earlier origins) tucked away unassumingly in the sleepy village of Lea.

In 1784 Peter established a cotton spinning mill at Lea Bridge, in collaboration with John Smedley. Soon after this became a wool spinning mill, a use which persists to this day (giving the business the honourable claim of being the world’s oldest manufacturing factory). We have enjoyed working with the present custodians of John Smedley Limited for several years now, including helping them to secure consent for the redevelopment of several old factory buildings to housing and the restoration of 3 listed cottages on their estate.

Peter’s father William Nightingale rebuilt Lea Hurst, a small country house on a promontory overlooking the Derwent Valley just south of Holloway, in a gothic revival style in 1820 -21. A small chapel window was incorporated into the property and survives until the present day -no doubt relocated from the former mediaeval chapel at nearby Wakebridge Farm.

William’s daughter Florence Nightingale found fame as a pioneering healthcare reformer during the Crimean war 1853 – 1856.

We obtained permission on appeal a few years ago for the reinstatement of a lost carriage drive from the centre of the village to the front of Lea Hurst. We argued that the reinstatement of the track would better reveal the history of the property by reinstating a lost feature of its parkland setting and allowing Leahurst to be approached and viewed in the manner originally intended.

Neighbouring the Lea Hurst estate is Leawood Hall, another notable country house -this time an early example of the arts and crafts style. We are currently working with the owners of Leawood Hall, and separately, with the owners of Leawood Hall lodge. The hall and lodge were built to the designs of eminent Victorian architect Eden Nesfield in 1874 -7. The surrounding gardens are thought to have been influenced by famous landscape designer William Barron.

At Planning & Design Practice we recognise the importance of the built heritage in our towns, villages and rural areas. We have worked on numerous schemes affecting Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Director Jon Millhouse specialises in heritage planning and architectural team leader Lindsay Cruddas is a registered Specialist Conservation Architect.

For more information, or to discuss how we could help with a specific project or property please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Images: Top Left – Recently reinstated track leading to Lea Hurst, Holloway Top Centre – Lea Hall Top Right – Leawood Hall

Jon Millhouse is both a Chartered Town Planner and a Full Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, with a specialist interest in Historic Building Conservation. He joined the company in 2004 after gaining a First in Environmental Design and Conservation at Oxford Brookes University. He has since carried out further training in Urban Design at Birmingham City University, and completed the RIBA Conservation Course.

Jon became a Director at Planning & Design Practice in 2011 and has since helped to grow the company. He has project led a wide variety of planning applications, Listed Building applications and appeals, and prepared a number of heritage assessments, context appraisals and masterplans.

RTPI’s “Re-use of Historic Buildings” webinar -Showcasing Smedley’s

29th November 202226th October 2020 by Gary Stringer

Planning & Design Practice Director Jon Millhouse gave a presentation on Friday 9 October as part of the RTPI East Midlands webinar ‘The Re-use of Historic Buildings’.

This webinar forms part of the RTPI Online series, and was an opportunity to look at best practice in the redevelopment and re-use of important historical assets. Jon joined a panel of speakers including experts from Savills, Locus Consulting and City of Lincoln Council who reviewed current legislation, policy and guidance. The event also featured in-depth case studies, one from from Lincoln looking at the Lincoln Cathedral Visitor centre and Cornhill Quarter, and the second on the redevelopment of a Derbyshire mill complex for commercial and residential uses, the John Smedley Mills project, that Planning Design were lucky enough to work on.

Jon commented “it was great to share my experiences of a rewarding and interesting project, and reflect on the practicalities of redeveloping an historic site and using planning obligations in a creative way to secure Investments into worthwhile projects such as an apprenticeship training programme, the establishment of an archive for historic garments and the restoration of dilapidated listed buildings”.

At the 2019 RTPI East Midlands Awards for Planning Excellence, our work for John Smedley Mills was awarded the Highly Commended Certificate for Excellence in Planning for Heritage & Culture.

The Highly Commended Certificate recognised our work on the redevelopment of the ‘East Site’ at John Smedley Mills, Lea Bridge. Planning Design were instructed as planning consultants, alongside Evans Vettori Architects to deliver a complex set of proposals for redevelopment, conversion and part demolition on the site, which is the last working textile mill in the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site and the “oldest manufacturing factory in the world”.

The ‘East Site’ was no longer needed for garment manufacture and development was needed to secure a beneficial future use for the land and buildings and to support the company’s development and expansion. The scheme included the renovation of three late 18th century Grade II Listed cottages which were in a very poor state of repair and on the “heritage at risk” register.

The full ‘The Re-use of Historic Buildings’ webinar is available to view on the RTPI East Midlands YouTube channel.

Planning Design recognise the importance of the built heritage in our towns, villages and rural areas. We have worked on numerous schemes affecting Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Director Jon Millhouse specialises in heritage planning and design team leader Lindsay Cruddas is a registered Specialist Conservation Architect.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for a free 30 minute consultation to discuss a particular building or project.

Derwent Valley Mills Management Plan Consultation

1st November 2019 by Gary Stringer

During 2018/19 significant work has been carried out to agree a vision for the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site (DVMWHS), creating a Management Plan detailing the aims, objectives and actions to help deliver that vision up to the year 2025.

The vision is clear, with the aim to

“Create and promote a local, national and international understanding and identity for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site as a cohesive and coherent whole, based on its global significance for all of humankind.”

From 11 October to 8 November 2019, the DVMWHS Co-ordination Team has been seeking the public’s opinion on the latest version of this draft Management Plan, for final changes to be made in November. The Plan will then be submitted to Historic England and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for clearance, before being submitted to UNESCO in January 2020.

You can read more and download a low-res version of the draft Management Plan at this LINK

World Heritage Sites, such as (DVMWHS) are places of global significance. Recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Convention, which has been ratified by the 193 member states of the United Nations (out of 206 recognised), including HM Government.

The industrial buildings within the Derwent Valley Mills may be considered to be unique in that they were the first of examples of what was to become the model for factories throughout the world in subsequent centuries.

The Derwent Valley was where the modern factory system was developed and established, beginning with the construction of the Silk Mill in Derby in 1721 for the brothers John and Thomas Lombe, which housed machinery for throwing silk, based on an Italian design. The scale, output, and numbers of workers employed were unprecedented. In 1771 Richard Arkwright constructed a water-powered spinning mill at Cromford, followed by a second, larger mill in 1776-77 which truly established the “Arkwright System” and the Industrial Revolution. The workers’ housing associated with this and the other mills are intact and span 24km of the Derwent Valley from the edge of Matlock Bath in the north almost to the centre of Derby in the south, incorporating the four principal industrial settlements of Cromford, Belper, Milford, and Darley Abbey.

Your comments on the draft Management Plan can be emailed to info@derwentvalleymills.org until 5pm on Friday 8 November 2019. Clear, concise comments would be appreciated.

Planning & Design recognise the importance of the built heritage in our towns, villages and rural areas. We have worked on numerous schemes in and around the World Heritage site and involving Listed Buildings, and Conservation Areas. Recently we were awarded with the Highly Commended Certificate for Excellence in Planning for Heritage & Culture at the RTPI East Midlands Awards for Planning Excellence 2019 for our work on the redevelopment of the ‘East Site’ at John Smedley Mills within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Director Jon Millhouse specialises in heritage planning and design team leader Lindsay Cruddas is a registered Specialist Conservation Architect.

“With one of the longest histories of any town in the country, Derby has a rich history which manifests itself in our built heritage, its conservation areas and the UNESCO World Heritage site, of which we should be rightly proud” said Jon Millhouse, Director at Planning & Design.

“The Management Plan consultation will help to preserve the special character of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site for many years to come. Identifying innovative approaches, and re-evaluating the assets of the area within the local economy, will help ensure a sustainable and viable future for this unique historical site which will bear fruit long into the 21st century and beyond.”

Highly Commended at the RTPI East Midlands Awards 2019

9th October 201930th September 2019 by Gary Stringer

The team at Planning Design were both surprised and delighted to be awarded the Highly Commended Certificate for Excellence in Planning for Heritage & Culture at the recent RTPI East Midlands Awards for Planning Excellence 2019.

The awards were held at the Roundhouse in Derby, at a sold out event on Thursday 26 September, which was attended by over 100 planning professionals from across the East Midlands.

The Highly Commended Certificate was for our work on the redevelopment of the ‘East Site’ at John Smedley Mills, Lea Bridge. Planning Design were instructed as planning consultants, alongside Evans Vettori Architects to deliver a complex set of proposals for redevelopment, conversion and part demolition on the site, which is the last working textile mill in the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site and the “oldest manufacturing factory in the world”.

With initial discussions with John Smedley Ltd beginning in December 2015, the development is now well underway, with the listed cottages having been fully restored by the summer of 2019. The redevelopment involved an innovative planning approach as it incorporated both conversion and new build and multiple heritage designations.

Some creative thinking by all parties resulted in a proposal to restore the derelict and run-down eighteenth century ‘Arkwright’ style cottages as part of the scheme. Achieving this objective was not straightforward in planning terms –the cottages lie within a different Council area to the remainder of the factory site and were in such a poor state of repair it wasn’t possible to enter the buildings to carry out a full survey.

With a number of stakeholders involved, Planning Design collaborated with John Smedley Ltd and Evans Vettori Architects as well as working proactively with Amber Valley Borough Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Dethick Lea and Holloway Parish Council as well as English Heritage and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Partnership. Working together, this enabled the delivery of complex and innovative planning proposals, which straddled two Authorities and involved both conversion and new build and multiple heritage designations.

As the site is in both a Conservation Area and a World Heritage Site, planning identified and was sympathetic to the fact that all new development must preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the wider area.

Creative thinking and diplomatic negotiation was necessary to secure an affordable housing contribution within the plan for the ‘at risk’ listed cottages (thus facilitating their re-use and restoration) plus securing other 106 contributions. This included funds to establish a John Smedley Archive to protect and promote a historically significant garment collection as well as a significant investment in apprenticeships, creating new ancillary tourism, education and employment opportunities.

Jon Millhouse, Director of Planning Design who accepted the certificate said

“We are genuinely thrilled with this recognition by the RTPI. Working within both a conservation area and a UNESCO World Heritage site brought numerous challenges in addition to those already inherent to the listed buildings at the John Smedleys site.

This is a great example of a successful partnership that has helped to ensure a sustainable and viable future for the oldest manufacturing factory in the world, creating opportunities for this unique historical site which will bear fruit long into the 21st century and beyond.”

Opening ceremony at restored John Smedley cottages

12th December 20228th August 2018 by Gary Stringer

Thank you to John Smedley Ltd for an enjoyable afternoon last month at the unveiling ceremony for their restored C18 cottages. The Grade II Listed cottages have been saved by the company from a state of substantial disrepair using monies generated from the ‘East Site’ planning application. Those involved in the project, including ourselves and Evans Vetorri Architects, were invited to look around the newly restored terrace and celebrate their completion.

Planning Design were instructed as planning consultants (alongside Evans Vettori Architects) to deliver a complex set of proposals for redevelopment, conversion and part demolition of surplus land and buildings at John Smedley Ltd, the last working textile mill in the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site and the “oldest manufacturing factory in the world”.

Development was needed to secure a beneficial future use for the land and buildings and to support the company’s development and expansion. The scheme included the renovation of three late C18 Grade II Listed cottages which were in a very poor state of repair and on the “heritage at risk” register.