Editing Jedediah Strutt (section)

==Cotton mills==
Strutt and another spinner, Samuel Need, were introduced to [[Richard Arkwright]] who had arrived in [[Nottingham]] in about 1768, and set up his spinning frame there using horse-power to run the mill, but this was an unsatisfactory power source. In [[Derby]], [[John Lombe]] had built a successful silk spinning mill using water power. Strutt and Need joined Arkwright in the building of a [[cotton mill]] at [[Cromford]], using what was henceforth called Arkwright's [[water frame]]. This was the first of its kind in the world, marking the beginning of the [[Industrial Revolution]].

Strutt bought land in 1777 for his first mill in [[Belper]], which at that time was a hamlet of framework knitters and nail makers. In 1781 he bought the old forge at Makeney by [[Milford, Derbyshire|Milford]] Bridge from Walter Mather. Belper opened in 1778 and Milford in 1782. For each he built long rows of substantial worker's houses and both are now part of the [[Derwent Valley Mills]] [[World Heritage Site]].

In time there would be eight Strutt mills at Belper which would grow to a population of 10,000 by the mid-nineteenth century and be the second largest town in the county.
[[File:BootsBuildingStatue (4).JPG|thumb|230px|Statue of Jedediah Strutt on the Boots building, East Street, Derby]]