Cromford Mill
Richard Arkwright's revolutionary water-powered cotton mill where the ghosts of exploited workers, including children, haunt the machinery and workshops of the first factory system.
Cromford Mill, built by Richard Arkwright in 1771, represents the birthplace of the factory system that would transform the world. This was the first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill, operating continuously for over 200 years. Arkwright employed entire families, including children as young as seven who worked 12-hour shifts tending dangerous machinery. The conditions were harsh, accidents frequent, and many workers—especially children—died from industrial injuries, machinery entrapment, and the lung diseases caused by cotton dust. The mill’s preservation has maintained more than just the machinery; the suffering of those early industrial workers seems embedded in the very fabric of the buildings.
The most disturbing phenomena occur in areas where the spinning machinery once operated. Visitors and staff report hearing the thunderous roar of water-powered machinery running at full capacity when the building is silent, accompanied by the rhythmic clacking of spinning frames and the shouts of overseers managing workers. The sounds of children crying and coughing echo through empty rooms—a heartbreaking reminder of the child laborers who suffered in the dusty, deafening conditions. Several witnesses have seen the apparition of a young girl, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, in ragged clothing attempting to clear jammed machinery—a dangerous task that killed many children when their hair or clothing became caught in the belts and gears.
The atmosphere in Cromford Mill becomes oppressively heavy in certain areas, particularly near the water channels and wheel pits. The smell of machine oil and cotton fiber manifests without explanation, and the temperature drops dramatically despite modern climate control. Richard Arkwright himself, who died in 1792, is allegedly seen in his old office, a stern figure in Georgian dress examining plans and ledgers. More disturbing are reports from the basement areas where the main drive shafts once ran—witnesses describe feeling watched by hostile presences, and some have been pushed or had their clothes tugged as if by invisible hands. The mill workers’ housing adjacent to the site experiences domestic hauntings with the sounds of large families living in cramped conditions, children playing, and the general cacophony of early industrial working-class life. Cromford Mill stands as a monument to both industrial innovation and human exploitation, its ghosts a permanent reminder of the suffering that built the modern world.