Derby: Rolls-Royce, Railways and the Silk Mill Revolution
Derby's economic identity is stamped with one name: Rolls-Royce. The aerospace and defence company employs over 12,000 people in the city and surrounding area, manufacturing jet engines for civil and military aircraft. The Rolls-Royce factory complex at Sinfin is the largest single-site employer in the East Midlands. When Rolls-Royce sneezes, Derby catches cold — and the city's fortunes have tracked the company's contract wins and losses for decades.
Before Rolls-Royce, there were railways. Derby was the headquarters of the Midland Railway, and the railway works at Litchurch Lane built locomotives and rolling stock from the 1840s. Bombardier (now Alstom) still manufactures trains there — many of the carriages running on Britain's railway network were built in Derby. The Roundhouse, a restored locomotive repair shed, now serves as a performance and events venue.
The Silk Mill on the River Derwent has a claim as the site of the world's first factory — John Lombe's silk throwing mill of 1721, which used water power to drive machinery tended by a workforce. It is now the Museum of Making, part of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site that runs from Derby to Matlock Bath. The Cathedral Quarter around the modest but handsome cathedral (elevated from parish church status in 1927), the Eagle Centre shopping area, and the regenerating riverside form the city centre. Royal Crown Derby, the porcelain manufacturer established in 1750, still produces in the city. The population is around 260,000.
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Derby's economic identity is stamped with one name: Rolls-Royce. The aerospace and defence company employs over 12,000 people in the city and surrounding area, manufacturing jet engines for civil and military aircraft. The Rolls-Royce factory complex at Sinfin is the largest single-site employer in the East Midlands. When Rolls-Royce sneezes, Derby catches cold — and the city's fortunes have tracked the company's contract wins and losses for decades.
Before Rolls-Royce, there were railways. Derby was the headquarters of the Midland Railway, and the railway works at Litchurch Lane built locomotives and rolling stock from the 1840s. Bombardier (now Alstom) still manufactures trains there — many of the carriages running on Britain's railway network were built in Derby. The Roundhouse, a restored locomotive repair shed, now serves as a performance and events venue.
The Silk Mill on the River Derwent has a claim as the site of the world's first factory — John Lombe's silk throwing mill of 1721, which used water power to drive machinery tended by a workforce. It is now the Museum of Making, part of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site that runs from Derby to Matlock Bath. The Cathedral Quarter around the modest but handsome cathedral (elevated from parish church status in 1927), the Eagle Centre shopping area, and the regenerating riverside form the city centre. Royal Crown Derby, the porcelain manufacturer established in 1750, still produces in the city. The population is around 260,000.
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