Monument record MDR7881 - Earthen Embankment, Wyver Lane, Belper

Earthen embankment running parallel with and adjacent to the west bank of the Derwent between, at its most northerly point (SK34594995), the railway embankment 300m SE of Lawn Cottage and, to the south (SK34794896), the railway embankment 460m north-east of Mount Pleasant Farm. This flood defence appears from mapping evidence to have been constructed before 1880. It has been suggested that the embankment dates to around 1860. The land was owned exclusively by the Strutt family from approximately 1820 to 1960, and so the flood defence would appear to be a Strutt family initiative. The embankment was almost certainly constructed after the railway was constructed (c.1840) as the defences run between two sections of the railway embankment and do not appear to be present beyond these points. (1, 2) The view of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is that the embankment is not a flood defence structure as it is composed of permeable material and is regularly overtopped by flood water when the river is high. The Trust suggests the embankment could have been created from material dredged from the river in order to speed up the flow rate on the approach to the mill. (3)