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Derby's industrial development shaped much of the Derby you see today. Visits to the city's museums will illustrate its industrial heritage and take you back to the days of mills, mines and manufacturing.

John Lombe, an apprentice working in Derby, heard that the Italians had the best silk making machinery, so he got a job in an Italian Mill in Piedmont where he secretly copied down the details of the machines and smuggled them back to England.

With George Sorocold, he established Derby's Silk Mill in 1717 on the banks of the River Derwent. Being self-contained the mill was a great success and played a significant part in the birth of the Industrial Revolution. When John Lombe died in 1722 aged only 29, it was rumoured that he had been poisoned by the irate Italian mill owners.

Today the historic Silk Mill has become Derby's Industrial Museum, and major industrial names to which Derby owes its wealth and development are represented there.

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