Borrowash Hydro is a hydro-electric power plant built on the River Derwent in Borrowash, Derbyshire.
The location is the site of the former Borrowash Mill. The power plant was installed by Derwent Hydro[1] in 1995 with a capacity of 100kw/h.[2]
Borrowash Mill
The earliest mention of a mill on the site dates from the Taxation Roll of Pope Nicholas compiled in 1291 which says that the Abbot of Dale had a mill at ‘Borwesasse’.[3] This is assumed to be a corn mill.
Around 1800 another mill was built as a cotton mill by Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington and operated by John Towle and Co. It became known as 'Towle's Mill'.
On 12 April 1928 a fire broke out. The mill at this time was operated by the English Cotton Company.[4]
The mill continued to operate as a flock mill providing material for the manufacture of bedding until it closed and was demolished in the middle 1960s.
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