The Silk Mill, Derby

Visit Date: 3 February 2008

Admission Price: Free

Ownership: Derby City Council

Tel. Number: 01332 255308

Website: http://www.derby.gov.uk/LeisureCulture/MuseumsGalleries/Derby_Industrial_Museum.htm

Walkthrough: The route begins on the first floor at the front of the building, where the World Heritage Site Room is situated. The building’s niche of being the world’s first mill is conveyed by illustrated wall panels with information on the site’s history as well as printed sheets on a chair by the opposite doorway, talking about the alleged poisoning of the mill founder after his participation in industrial espionage for the designs of the throwing machines. The room displays one of these machines behind wooden barriers, along with a display case containing a model of the mill building at its height, a case containing silk products made at the mill and wooden mill building toys for visitors to assemble. By the exit, there is also a motion-triggered animatronic dummy of the mill owner within an office diorama, whose head turns for a brief audio history of the building.

The adjacent room is entitled Derbyshire Industries, although it shares Derby’s industrial past with the city’s social history. The diverse focus begins almost immediately, with the two doorways leading into the room arriving at a model of 18th century Derby (made in 1938) and a split 1890s/1990s recreation of children’s bedrooms, with panels comparing the two sets of conditions. The exhibits are split between the central feature of a chimney and an adjacent fireplace, where children upto a certain height are allowed to climb up both entrances as they are coated in foam to avoid injury. On one side of the chimney feature is a grandfather clock with a swinging pendulum and visible mechanism, a Victorian medicine counter with an information panel opposite the wooden barrier, and a reconstructed cottage with a panel in the interior. On the other side of the chimney is a Victorian school area with desks and a blackboard, a look at lead-mining and a free-standing push-button tower that looks at the process of a blast furnace. With no further central obstacles, the right hand side of the gallery continues to look at Derbyshire’s industries, with displays of stoneware, bricks, industrial pottery and steelworks – all of which have explanatory panels. On the left hand side is a narrow fabrics loom behind wooden barriers, a telephone exchange from the 1930s where visitors can dial one telephone to reach the other, and a model of a 90s train beside the ramp leading into the next room.

The train theme continues for the remainder of the floor, beginning with the Railway Engineering room. The centre is taken up by a signal box, whilst the right hand wall is fully taken up by an encased model railway, based upon an actual line that runs through Derbyshire. Although some buildings aren’t fully detailed, the painted mural backdrop, hilled landscape and detailed sections are very impressive. The railway is operational once a month (which wasn’t during my visit) and there is a collection box provided for “new rolling stock”, whilst the left side wall is coated in information panels, images and memorabilia (such as signs and signals) on Derbyshire’s railways. Before the stairwell, there is a side gallery entitled Railway Research. Dating from the early 90s, the majority of walls are occupied by backlit information panels on the railway system provided by the former British Rail (who sponsored the exhibition). Between these panels is the doorway into the Midland Railway Study Centre, an archive for train enthusiasts which can only be accessed when they make appointments to use the room. The main feature of the room is the cab of a 90s train, which has been converted into a theatre area as the windscreen has been replaced with a screen playing video footage of a train driver’s perspective of a train journey between Derby and Leeds. Not only is the footage strangely engrossing, the museum also happens to sell the footage on DVD in its gift shop!

Down the stairs, or the service lift if you ask the Front of House staff, is the temporary exhibition gallery, which was displaying a number of Model Ships (NB/ I missed the actual name of the exhibition). The models were contained within display cases and although there were no information panels for the models, the Front of House desk had printed information available as well as a member of staff at the table. To the side of the temporary exhibition gallery, directly beneath Railway Research, is the Power for Industry room. This features a number of machines, either in cases or behind a wooden barrier, with one particular large engine being turned on, like the model railway, on a monthly basis. There are hands-on features, with button-operated miniature engines and turn-able wheels to demonstrate how a piston works. Not all of the features were responsive, but there were panels for each feature, looking at various forms of power.

The final exhibition consists of Rolls-Royce engines, split between the main building and the side gallery containing the RB211 jet engine. As well as having Perspex information panels behind it, there is also a raised walkway to the side of it. Within the main building, the smaller engines are mounted with individual, coloured, standing panels beside them. There are also panels on the founders of the company, and its history, and an old computer console which will play one of two films depending on the button the visitor presses. Down the ramp, there is a play area on one side, with Lego, K’Nex and toy trains, and a machine that creates engine designs on the other side, as well as more engines. The route ends by the main Front of House desk, with gift shop displays on either side and a window display case nearby, containing school-related artefacts.

Highlights:

- Some very innovative forms of interpretation.
- The World Heritage Room
- The Train Cab
- The Model Railway

Lowlights:

- Some interactives were broken.
- There was not a lot of space devoted to the building's history.
- The social history area was very confusing.

Access: The Silk Mill is within the city centre of Derby, although it isn’t immediately visible. There is no car park provided, although there are pay and display spaces and a multi-storey car park nearby. There are lifts at both ends of the building as well as ramps, allowing wheelchair users full access to most of the site, with the exception of the RB211 walkway.

Overall Impression: The Silk Mill is an impressive site as it makes Derby’s industrial heritage engaging, despite having only a few interactive features. Although the ground floor isn’t as varied as the first floor and a few displays look slightly dated, the museum manages to cover most aspects of the city’s industrial past and attracts repeat visits from the monthly operation of both the model railway and the powered engine.


Update: 19 December 2009 – The ground floor has been rearranged since that visit, with the shop area moved fully against the left side wall. In place of the gifts opposite the main desk, there is now a drinks machine. The temporary exhibition gallery was hosting Derby City Open 3D, part of an annual art exhibition which displays 3D artworks, such as sculpture and ceramics. These are displayed in cases on white pedestals with captions attached to them.

Other notes:

- The museum closed down in April 2011. Derby City Council have pledged to re-open it in 2013.
- In the interest of full disclosure, I volunteered here over the summer of 2009.