Although traditionally artefacts and archives relating to a World Heritage Site have not been seen as part of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), UNESCO has, in recent years, accepted the value and importance of collections in helping to tell the stories, and provide evidence which helps us to showcase its authenticity.
The Derwent Valley Mills are blessed with an extensive collection of artefacts and archives which enrich their story and inspire both local people and visitors to understand and appreciate their significance in world history. Dispersed across a wide variety of institutions in the Derwent Valley and beyond, these items help us to interpret and animate the history of the world’s first factories.
Recognising and appreciating the value of these collections, the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership has supported the work done to conserve, extend and document material relating to the World Heritage Site, through its own Collections Working Group. Examples of material acquired since inscription onto the World Heritage List in 2001, can be found in the publication Enlightenment! Derbyshire Setting the Pace in the 18th century, (Derbyshire County Council, 2013), the catalogue of a National Lottery Heritage Fund strategic collecting programme which was supported by many other public and private trusts.
It is important to recognise there is a wide spectrum of elements linking to the attributes which contribute to the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, e.g. pre-18th century archaeology. Museums, libraries and archives also hold collections of intangible heritage such as oral history testimony and transcriptions.
Collections feature within the DVMWHS Research Framework (ed. David Knight, DVMWHS. 2016), aiding in the interpretation of all of the eleven Strategic Research Objectives. The Framework records the following local institutions holding collections as being central to the telling of the DVMWHS story (* denotes accredited museum within the Arts Council accreditation scheme): The Arkwright Society; Bakewell Old House Museum*; Belper Historical Society; Belper North Mill*; Buxton Museum and Art Gallery*; Chatsworth House; Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery*; Crich Tramway Village*; Friends of Cromford Canal; Darley Abbey Historical Group; Derby Local Studies and Family History Library; Derby Museums*; Derbyshire Archaeological Society; Derbyshire Historic Environment Record; Derbyshire Record Office; Little Chester Heritage Centre; Masson Mills; Midland Railway Trust; Peak District Lead Mining Museum*; John Smedley Ltd Archive; Wirksworth Heritage Centre.
In addition there is material relating to the DVMWHS in national collections, (e.g. British Library) other regional collections (e.g. Manchester Museums & Galleries, Oxford University) and collections in the USA (e.g. Yale Centre for British Art and Columbia University).
These collections are globally significant in detailing the story of the Derwent Valley Mills. The World Heritage Site Partnership recognises their importance and the need to ensure they are secure, properly cared for and available for this and future generations to appreciate and study in order that a greater understanding of the mills and their communities is reached.