George Sorocold

George Sorocold (c. 1668 – c. 1738) was an English civil engineer of the eighteenth century notable for pioneering work on water supplies and hydraulic power systems around Great Britain.

[1] Some time between 1685 and 1687 Sorocold was involved with the water supply to Macclesfield and in 1687, he took on the job of rehanging the bells in All Saints Church, now Derby Cathedral.

This waterworks lasted nearly a hundred years, and he constructed others around the country, at Alloa (1711–12),[3] Bridgnorth, Bristol, Deal, King's Lynn, Leeds, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Portsmouth, Sheffield, and Great Yarmouth.

[4] The idea was taken up by John Lombe who, with his brother Thomas, engaged Sorocold to build a new, larger mill, based on the Italian pattern, on the site of the old one, completed in 1722.

One day, while escorting a group of visitors to the mill, Sorocold missed his footing on the walkway and fell into the sluice.