The mill is sited in Belper, a town in Derbyshire, England, roughly halfway between Derby and Matlock.

Its replacement was built in 1804 by his son, William Strutt, on the foundations of the old mill and is one of the oldest surviving examples of an iron-framed 'fire-proof' building in the world.

The beams were cast in a "turtle back profile" to give the required strength, at minimum weight.

The lateral thrust of the brick arches was resisted by concealed wrought iron ties between the column tops.

[4] Both the first and second floors originally housed thirty-four Arkwright water frames which spun 4236 ends simultaneously.

Later mule spinning machines were introduced to produce finer thread types which were in demand.

On the fifth floor, reeling frames wound the spun thread into 'skeins' ready for dyeing at a factory in Milford.

This consists of 2 x 175 kW grid-connected low head Gilkes water turbine sets.