Page "Derby Industrial Museum" Paragraph 2

Traditionally the spinning wheel had been used for producing small quantities of silk thread at the homes of local spinsters, the new large, machines were capable of producing far greater quantities of silk and were to become serious competition for the Italians.

These machines however required large buildings and a considerable power source.

An undershot water wheel turned by the mill fleam on the west side of the new Silk Mill drove the massive spinning machines.