The Hauntingly Excellent Range
John Lombe
In 1716, John Lombe - posing as a migrant worker - travelled to Piedmont, Italy, to study the techniques of silk throwing. His motivation was to ultimately steal this knowledge and use it to build a Silk Mill in Derby with his brother Thomas.
Successful in his mission, he returned to England and he and his brother Thomas built a mechanized silk mill in Derby, pioneering industrial silk production in England and creating one of the world’s first factory-style mills in 1721.
Their success threatened Italy’s silk industry, and legend claims that the King of Sardinia sent an assassin who gained employment on John’s household staff and who gradually poisoned him - he died in 1722 at age 29. Despite this, the Lombes’ innovation laid the foundations for mechanized textile manufacturing. Today, the site of the Derby Silk Mill houses the Museum of Making.
John’s ghost is said to haunt the Museum of Making itself.
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: Museum of Making, 1 Silk Mill Lane, Derby DE1 3AF
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CONNECTION: The Museum of Making stands on the site of the former Derby Silk Mill. The original Silk Mill building was decimated by a fire in 1910 with only the tower surviving. The mill was rebuilt, though two-storeys shorter than it had previously been. The Museum now celebrates the area’s rich history of innovation and tells Derby’s 300-year history of making to inspire new creativity.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: Derby Cathedral, 18-19 Iron Gate, Derby DE1 3GP
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CONNECTION: Formerly All Saints Church until 1927, Derby Cathedral was the location of John's burial after his death in 1722. The Cathedral also houses the Cavendish Tombs which holds the coffins of 44 members of the Cavendish family including Bess of Hardwick. The tombs also contain 2 metal boxes which store the entrails and organs from members of the Cavendish family that were embalmed.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
