Little Matlock Rolling Mill

The original mill dated from 1732 when James Balguy of Stannington leased land from the Duke of Norfolk to build a cutlers wheel on the site. Balguy operated the wheel until 1743 when Tobias Andrews took over. The rental records show numerous names as tenants in the ensuing years with the more long standing being the Hawley family, James Colley, J.W. Armitage and J. Shaw. Arnold Wilde was the occupant in 1801 and by 1806 he had purchased the mill outright. In the early part of the 19th century the mill consisted of three workshops with two overshot water wheels which drove two pairs of tilt hammers, two forge hammers and a plating hammer.