In 1717 Englands first factory was built in Derby next to the River Derwent. A man named John Lombe travelled to Italy to steal the design of silk throwing machinery. At that time the Italians were the only Europeans with that technology. Lombe got himself a job with a silk firm in Livorno and smuggled plans of their machines back to Derby. He managed to escape back to England...but three years later an assassin sent from Livorno poisoned him in revenge for his act of industrial espionage.

Most of The Silk Mill burned down in 1910, though the main bell tower was saved and is still part of the rebuilt structure. It now houses an industrial museum. The tower is haunted by the ghost of a young boy who was kicked down the steep stairs by a cruel overseer for not working hard enough. The child bled to death and his dying sobs are still heard by visitors and staff to this day. A lift (elevator) there has a tendency to operate by itself. The custodians of the museum have become accustomed to finding nothing when prompted to investigate by the sound of a boy's cries and they always check the lift for trapped visitors before closing time because its independent ways have been accepted as part of the buildings standard operating procedure.