Joseph Whitworth

Manchester engineer and machine-tool maker, who advocated the standard and uniform screw thread that carries his name and built a measuring device accurate to a millionth of an inch. In 1854 he bought the Stancliffe estate at Darley Dale and converted its gritstone quarries into ornamental rock gardens, said at the time to be the finest in England; the quarries were reopened only after his trustees sold the estate in 1897.

In the archive

• Landowner · Stancliffe Quarry (from 1854) — Bought the Stancliffe estate in 1854 and laid the quarries out as rock gardens.

Sources

1. MDR9054 - Stancliffe Quarries, Darley Dale, Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. Darley Dale: Out and About, Country Images Magazine

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 23 September 2026