Via Gellia

Via Gellia is a steep sided wooded dry valley and road in Derbyshire.

It is probably named after (or by) Phillip Eyre Gell in a mock Latin style; he was responsible for building the road through the valley, and the Gells claimed Roman descent. At its lower (eastern) end is the village of Cromford, near to the town of Wirksworth and the Georgian cotton mill, Cromford Mill, built by inventor/entrepreneur Richard Arkwright. At the western end is the hamlet of Grangemill.

The road (now the A5012) appears to have been constructed about 1790 to connect the Gell family's extensive lead-mining interests around Wirksworth with a new smelter at Cromford. However, some sources say that the route was in use as early as 1720 for transporting stone from the Gell's quarries in the Hopton area.

The fabric Viyella, a wool and cotton mix, is named after the Via Gellia valley, the location of W. Hollins & Company's textile mill where it was originally produced.