Spinning Yarns: A Tale of Landscape Archaeology in the Leen Valley, Nottinghamshire

Abstract

ABSTRACT The cotton-spinning mills developed in Nottinghamshire by George Robinson and his sons in the late 18th century were acknowledged by contemporary writers to be pioneering. Faced with a crisis in their water supply, their early use of steam power was ground-breaking. Furthermore, their impact on the landscape was considerable. From the 1960s, researchers identified surviving earthworks and catalogued aspects of the business. Exploration of the mill water system since 2000 has revealed more detail about their innovative approach to maintaining production with their water-wheels, using a modest stream and a combination of surface water storage and groundwater sources. An HLF-funded project has recently extended the archaeological research at Papplewick with extensive surveying and targeted excavation. A wider socio-economic appraisal of the Robinson mills has also been undertaken. This article discusses some of the outputs of the project.