History
In the time of Henry VIII the southern four rooms were built as a tax collector's house. Ralph Gell of Hopton, near Wirksworth, had taken over the collection of tithes, the tenth of all produce due to the church, and needed a house for his steward, Christopher Plant. The produce, such as oats and wool, was stored in nearby barns before being sold.
In the time of Elizabeth I the house was made much bigger as a gentleman's residence, with the luxury of an internal toilet or garderobe. The central room has a big fireplace where the cooking was done.
In 1777 Richard Arkwright, the founder of the factory system, built his third cotton mill at Bakewell and divided this house into 5 cottages for workers at the mill. Another was built on.
They were good for their time but by the 1950s the cottages were condemned as unfit for human habitation. They would have been demolished but the Bakewell & District Historical Society was formed to protect the Old House and to use it as a museum.
