MILFORD, a village partly in the township of BEEPER,
and partly in the hamlet of MAKENY, in the parish
of DUFFIELD, hundred of APPLETREE, county of DERBY,
1 mile (S.) from Belper. The population is returned with
the parish. This flourishing little place, which is situated
on the road from Derby to Chesterfield, Matlock, &c.,
prior to 1781, consisted only of eight houses, and had a
small iron-forge; at that period Messrs. Strutt built a
cotton-mill, and subsequently a handsome stone bridge
over the river Derwent, which is now a county bridge.
An extensive trade is carried on in spinning, dyeing,
and bleaching cotton goods, which affords employment
to about seven hundred persons. There are places
of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. A
school has been built, and is supported by the proprietors
of the different works, for the education of poor
children.