Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is in the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The spa resort of Matlock Bath is immediately south of the town as well as Cromford lying further south still. The civil parish of Matlock Town had a population in the 2021 UK census of 10,000.

Matlock is south-west of Chesterfield and in close reach of the cities of Derby (19 miles), Sheffield (20 miles) and Nottingham (29 miles). Matlock is within the Derbyshire Dales district and is the headquarters of Derbyshire County Council.

History

The name Matlock derives from the Old English mæthel (or mæðel), meaning assembly or speech, and āc, meaning oak tree; thus Matlock means 'moot-oak', an oak tree where meetings are held. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Meslach and in 1196 it was named Matlac. The population increased rapidly in the 1800s, largely because of the popular hydros that were being built. At one stage there were around twenty hydros, mostly on Matlock Bank, the largest built in 1853 by John Smedley. Matlock is also home to the Derbyshire Dales District Council as well as Matlock Town council.

Governance

Matlock has a town council, the urban equivent of the rural parish council and the lowest tier of local government. The Council meets twice a month. There are 11 Councillors who cover the area and 9 members of staff. Matlock Town Council's jurisdiction extends to the town centre, Matlock Bank, Hurst Farm, Matlock Green, Matlock Town, Starkholmes and Riber.

The second tier of local government is Derbyshire Dales District Council, which covers almost a third of the mainly rural parts of the county, including the towns of Matlock, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Wirksworth and Darley Dale and over 100 villages. The council has 39 District Councillors elected in 25 wards. Matlock is represented by six councillors in the two wards: Matlock All Saints and Matlock St Giles.

The top tier of local government is Derbyshire County Council, which has responsibilities for the whole of Derbyshire apart from the City of Derby. Matlock is represented by one county councillor (out of 64 councillors in total).

The main offices of all three tiers of local government are sited in Matlock. The Town Council is housed in the Imperial Rooms close to the bottom of Bank Road, the District Council is halfway up Bank Road and the County Council is at the top.

As regards national democracy, Matlock forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Derbyshire Dales. The MP is currently John Whitby, who was elected in the 2024 General Election.

Geography

Natural physical features

The main physical features of the Matlock area are the hills and watercourses. The height of the town (above mean level) varies from 91m at Causeway Lane (in the valley bottom) to 203m at the top of Wellington Street. Matlock is overlooked by Riber Castle at 260m from the south-east and by Masson Hill at 339m from the south-west. The first human settlement in the area was in what is now known as Old Matlock or Matlock Green. This was where the Bentley Brook joined the River Derwent. When the town grew in the late 19th century, the town spread up the steep hillsides to the north-east of the narrow valley bottom.

thumb|top|right|alt=|Baileys (corn) Mill on Bentley BrookVarious industries made use of the natural features:

  • The underlying bedrock was quarried and mined.
  • The watercourses were harnessed to power corn mills, cloth mills, and other mills.
  • The hillside thermal spring water gave rise to the hydros.

The natural features also constrained transport links:

  • In the Derwent gorge below High Tor, the present-day A6 (Dale Road) was squeezed in beside the river.
  • From the south, the Midland Railway reached Matlock Station via a series of short tunnels constructed under the limestone of the gorge.
  • A cable tramway was constructed to tackle the very steep Bank Road (see above).

Geology

thumb|upright|Specimen of Matlockite in the , [[Bonn, Germany]]

The geology of the Matlock area is extremely complex. Broadly speaking, the Derwent valley bottom forms a boundary between the sandstones and gritstones of the Dark Peak to the north-east and the limestones of the White Peak to the south-west. There are igneous intrusions into the limestones to the south-west.

This geology has been exploited by the quarrying and mining industries. The sandstones and gritstones have been quarried as building materials (e.g. at Bentley Brook Quarries) and the limestones for building materials and the manufacture of lime (e.g. at Harvey Dale Quarries). The igneous intrusions gave rise to valuable minerals which have been mined (e.g. in the Bonsall area), particularly for lead. A very rare lead halide mineral called Matlockite was first discovered at nearby Bage Mine in the early 1800s, and is named after the town.

The route of the River Derwent downstream (south) of Matlock is especially interesting to geologists in that it has cut its way through a limestone gorge below High Tor (120m above river level), rather than follow the "simpler" way to the east. It is thought that landslips and/or glaciation may have had an influence over how the present route of the river was established.

Nearby places

The Dimple

The area on the western edge of the town, bounded on the north and east by Old Hackney Lane, Hurds Hollow, and Dimple Road, and on the south by Bakewell Road, is named as Dimple, on the Ordnance Survey map.

Flooding

The Derwent has occasionally flooded, including during November 2019 when large areas of England were affected. This flood in particular claimed one life: that of Matlock's former high sheriff, Annie Hall, who was swept away by the water and subsequently drowned, aged 69. This flood also caused damage to many of Matlock's businesses, including the local Wetherspoons, which was forced to close due to the damages and later reopened as Ostello Lounge, part of the Lounges group, in March 2022.

Transport

250px|thumb|Matlock taken from Matlock Bridge – looking up the hill of Bank Road across Crown Square (prior to bridge one way system)

Railways

National Rail services run generally hourly each way between Matlock and Derby on the Derwent Valley Line, operated by East Midlands Railway.

History

In 1849, the railway came to Matlock. The section from Wye Dale (about east of Buxton) to Coombs viaduct, a point about a mile south-east of Bakewell, has now become the Monsal Trail, an walking and cycle trail.

Heritage

120px|left|Peak Rail emblem

Peak Rail, a preserved railway, runs steam trains on a section of the closed line between Matlock, Darley Dale and Rowsley. Previously it used its own station, Matlock Riverside, a short distance to the north of the mainline station; however, from 2011, both Peak Rail and trains on the Derwent Valley Line share the same station.

Buses

The town is well served by bus routes, operated by Trent Barton and Stagecoach Yorkshire.

Roads

The A6, which links Carlisle with Luton, passes through the town; it provides access to Manchester, Stockport, Buxton, Bakewell and Derby.

Bank Road Tram

In 1893, Matlock Cable Tramway was built up Bank Road from Crown Square at Matlock Bridge to Wellington Street (at the top of Bank Road) with a stop halfway up at Smedley Street where Smedley's Hydro (built by John Smedley) was situated. Conceived by Job Smith, the tram was inspired by San Francisco's famous cable cars and cost £20,000. When it was built, it was the steepest tramway in the world at a gradient of 1 in 5½ and it rose . The fare was tuppence up and one penny down. It closed in 1927, The Crown is now a Wetherspoon's pub just along Bakewell Road.

  • Crown Buildings, opposite the original Crown Hotel at the bottom of Bank Road, was built in 1889 Following local government reorganisation in 1974, the Town Hall became the headquarters of West Derbyshire District Council (which later changed its name to Derbyshire Dales District Council).
  • Our Lady & St. Joseph's Catholic Church – built in 1883 with a presbytery added in 1896. The church was described as a 'mission', established under St Mary's of Derby. A church hall was built alongside in the 1990s.
  • Matlock Methodist & United Reformed Church – originally Matlock Wesleyan Chapel, and later the Trinity Methodist Church. The church was designed by C.O. Ellison of Liverpool, with additions designed by Horace G. Bradley. The neo-gothic church was originally built in 1882 without the slender steeple, which is now a landmark feature reaching above the roofs of neighbouring buildings, and, from higher levels, an elegant feature against the backdrop of the hills beyond. The Manse was built at the west of the site, fronting New Street.

thumb|top|right|County Hall with Winter Gardens in foreground

  • County Hall – formerly Smedley's Hydro, is a grade II listed building which dominates Matlock Bank. The earliest (western) section seen today was built in by Smedley. Much of today's building was added after Smedley's death in 1874. The first phase, in 1881, included the entrance hall and staircase, now in the middle section. In 1886, the eastern section was added by architect George Statham of Nottingham. Later extensions include the tall chimney, impressive for its height on the already prominent site, along with boiler house and bath in 1894. The domed glass Winter Gardens, which housed a ballroom, and the northern block on the other side of Smedley Street were added in 1901. The northern block was linked by the unusual two-storey bridge over Smedley Street.

NB. Beyond Smedley Street, Bank Road is actually Rutland Street.

Old tram depot, Bank Road (technically Rutland Street)|thumb

  • Rutland Court – the former Matlock House Hydro stands prominently on the east side of Rutland Street. The hydro was built in 1863 and an engraving of 1870 shows that the main block, at least that which is visible from the roadside today, is largely unaltered.
  • Rockside Hydro – an imposing building with views across Matlock, is a grade II listed building, on higher ground above Smedley's and is distinctive for its two octagonal corner turrets with conical roofs topped by lanterns. Rockside was built circa 1860, but extended significantly by the firm of architects Parker and Unwin between 1901 and 1905, The building was also extended later in 1923 and 1928. An upper floor glazed conservatory with a glazed curved roof was added in , and a block was added on Cavendish Road in 1928.

Dale Road

Dale Road runs all the way from Matlock Bridge (road bridge over the River Derwent) to North Parade in Matlock Bath. It forms part of the Derby to Manchester road (A6) and has very many bends.

Dale Road, like Bank Road (see previous section), contains a large number of examples of Victorian architecture, although only four are listed by English Heritage. However, all buildings on Dale Road are included in two conservation areas created by Derbyshire Dales District Council. These conservation areas are called "Matlock Bridge" (from the bridge over the Derwent to the railway bridge over Dale Road), then "Matlock Dale" to the outskirts of Matlock Bath.

In this section, the main features of Dale Road are described, starting at Matlock Bridge and then proceeding in a southerly direction until the High Tor Hotel.

  • Railway Station and Station House – The railway station and the nearby station house were both designed by Joseph Paxton around 1850, as part of the building of the Midland Railway's Derby to Buxton route. The station house, being largely unaltered since being built, is listed Grade II by English Heritage, but the station itself is unlisted.
  • Matlock Bridge – This is the road crossing of the River Derwent. The first stone bridge was constructed over or close to the site of a ford in the mid 13th century. It was only a single carriageway in width and remained so for 550 years. In the 1890s there were discussions regarding the need for a wider bridge to be able to cope with the increasing road traffic. A new bridge was proposed which would have involved the demolition of the existing. However, a decision was taken to double the width of the existing bridge. This work was undertaken in 1903–1904. The bridge was made one-way to vehicular traffic at time of building of the access road to the superstore in Cawdor Quarry in 2007. The bridge is listed as Grade II* by English Heritage.
  • Queens Head Inn – The building currently on the corner of the junction of Holt Lane with Dale Road dates from the late 19th century. At that time it was the Queens Head Inn, although it has now been converted to shops. Along with the Market Hall (see below), this was one of the earliest buildings to be constructed at this (north) end of Dale Road.
  • NatWest Bank (now closed) – This building of 1901 is on the east side of Dale Road (No 19). This is one of the few buildings on Dale Road that has a brick frontage (although several that have a stone frontage do use brick for the sides and rear).
  • Market Hall – This building is on the west side of Dale Road (Nos 4,6,8,10) just south of the Queens Head Inn. The Market Hall was constructed in 1867–68. The ground floor was used as a general market house with 12 shop units while the upper floor was used for assemblies, public meetings and entertainments. The architectural style chosen for this was that of the then-popular Gothic Revival. The building was also an important source of civic pride, designed to impress and sporting a row of carved heraldic shields across its façade. The Market Hall is now a row of shops and offices.
  • Evans Jeweller – Evans Jewellers Shop at Nos 93–95 Dale Road, with its projecting clock, can be regarded as the focal point of that part of the east side of Dale Road between its junctions with Olde Englishe Road and Holt Lane. W. Evans & Son has traded from these premises continuously since it was first established in 1893.
  • Holt Terrace – This is a five-house terrace that looks down on the southern junction of Holt Lane with Dale Road. It lies just north of the railway crossing of Dale Road and the River Derwent. Holt Lane was the "main road" along the valley until the Midland Railway opened in 1849. Soon after then, the Dale Road area was developed and Dale Road relegated Holt Lane to a side street.
  • The Boat House – This pub (now closed) is next to John Hadfield House on the west side of Dale Road. The pub was built in the early 19th century and is listed Grade II by English Heritage. It takes its name from a small ferry which once linked Matlock Dale to Matlock Green. The ferry was replaced by a footbridge in 1872.
  • High Tor Hotel – This building, squeezed into the valley bottom below High Tor, was built in the early 19th century by Colonel Edward Payne. It was originally known as Tor Cottage and has had a variety of uses since then, including being a private home, lodging house, guest house, hotel and school (Matlock Modern School). As at August 2015, it is called High Tor Hotel and Artists Corner Restaurant and claims to be "a modern boutique hotel".

<gallery mode=packed>

File:Matlock - HSBC Bank on Dale Road (Geograph-2242878-by-Dave-Bevis).jpg|HSBC Bank

File:Matlock - NatWest Bank.jpg|NatWest Bank

File:Matlock - former market hall.jpg|Market Hall with Queens Head beyond

File:Matlock - Olde Englishe Hotel.jpg|Olde Englishe Hotel

File:Matlock - Evans Jeweller.jpg|Evans Jeweller, with Lime and Olde Englishe Hotel beyond

File:Matlock - railway bridge and Holt Terrace.jpg|Holt Terrace with railway bridge to left

File:Matlock - footbridge to Pic Tor (Geograph-2242688-by-Dave-Bevis).jpg|Footbridge to Pic Tor

File:A6 (Dale Road) in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire - Geograph-4595383.jpg|Artists Corner

</gallery>

Sport

thumb|top|right|alt=|ARC Leisure CentreMatlock is home to Matlock Town Football Club, playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division at their Causeway Lane ground.

Matlock is also home to Matlock and Cromford Meadows Cricket Club playing next to the football ground, and Matlock and District Swimming Club (also known as MAD Swimming) which trained and competed in the nearby old Matlock Lido before it closed in August 2011 with subsequent events transferred to the Arc complex. Matlock Cycling Club has helped to produce a number of national and international status riders including Tim Gould, Olympian Mountain Biker Annie Last and has a popular youth section.

Matlock's rugby team play their home matches at nearby Cromford Meadows. They run 3 senior teams and the 1st XV compete at Level 6 in the RFU league structure. Matlock Rugby Club also has a thriving minis and junior section with over 250 members all supported by fully qualified mini and junior coaches. In 2007 the club was awarded the Derbyshire Tigger Price Memorial trophy for the team of the year award.

On the outskirts of Matlock off the A6 Bakewell Road, a new multi-use leisure centre and swimming facility was opened in 2011 known as Arc Leisure Matlock. It was opened officially by Lord Sebastian Coe.

Education and arts

The annual arts festival Matlock Live began takes place in June or July each year featuring local musicians, dancers, artists, etc. As part of the summer event, Matlock Live invites buskers and other street performers to form a busking trail around Matlock raising money for the charity Aquabox. Matlock Music present a series of public concerts at Highfields School (Upper Lumsdale site). Storytelling is also well represented with a monthly venue at the Imperial Rooms.

Education history

thumb|left|Ernest Bailey School (now County Council Records Office)

thumb|left|400px|Highfields School 'Lower Site' at Starkholmes, formerly Charles White Secondary Modern

The first school in Matlock was founded in 1647 as a free school for local boys, originally funded by local George Spateman of Tansley and from 1668 by Anthony Wolley. This school was rebuilt in 1829 and expanded in 1860 and 1889 and girls first attended in 1816. Several bus routes continue to serve only the old bus station on Bakewell Road, making Matlock one of the smallest towns in Britain to have two bus stations.

In 2010, Crown Square was updated with the replacement of pavements and street furniture intended to provide a look more appropriate to a conservation area; the old tarmac pavements and traffic island were rebuilt in local sandstone, barriers were replaced with heritage bollards and all street lights replaced. Bakewell Road and Firs Parade were not included in this phase as they are just off Crown Square, and along with Imperial Road they are yet to be redeveloped.

Matlock on film and television

thumb|St Giles Church, featured in Women in Love

  • Coming Down the Mountain, The BBC drama was set partly in Matlock although nothing was filmed there.
  • Women in Love, Ken Russell's Oscar winning 1969 film, uses a house at the top of New Street (No. 80) as the home of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. The house is currently a B&B. St Giles' Church in Church Street was the setting for the wedding of Laura Crich.
  • A music video of Libera ("Salva Me", 1997) in a rock formation in Matlock Cave.
  • Peak Practice, the ITV series, used locations in Matlock, including Highfields School, Victoria Hall Gardens and Henry Avenue, although the main village location is Crich and nearby Fritchley.
  • Dead Man's Shoes, the 2004 film by Shane Meadows, was filmed in and around Matlock.
  • In Denial of Murder, 2005 BBC dramatisation of Matlock Mercury editor Don Hale's campaign to free Stephen Downing.
  • Skeletons, 2010 film, partially filmed around Matlock including locations at the Morledge estate.
  • Starlings, a 2012 Sky 1 drama, is set in Matlock.
  • The Neighbourhood, a 2026 ITV1 reality television series, was filmed at the Darwin Lake Holiday Village in Matlock.

Local media

Local news and television channels are BBC East Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals can be received from one of the three local relay transmitters (Matlock, Stanton Moor and Bolehill).

Matlock's local radio stations are BBC Radio Derby on 95.3 FM, Capital Midlands on 102.8 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Peak FM) on 102.0 FM.

The Matlock Mercury is the town's weekly local newspaper.

Matlock in literature

Karl Philipp Moritz in his Journeys of a German in England in 1782 describes Matlock as follows:

<blockquote>

Travelling from Matlock Bath and via the Matlock Bridge you arrive in the small town of Matlock proper, a place hardly worth being called a village, as it is made up of very few, shoddy houses.

</blockquote>

Mary Shelley in her 1818 novel Frankenstein:

<blockquote>

We left Oxford with regret, and proceeded to Matlock, which was our next place of rest. The country in the neighbourhood of this village resembled, to a greater degree, the scenery of Switzerland; but every thing is on a lower scale, and the green hills want the crown of distant white Alps, which always attend on the piny mountains of my native country. We visited the wondrous cave, and the little cabinets of natural history, where the curiosities are disposed in the same manner as in the collections at Servox and Chamounix. The latter name made me tremble, when pronounced by Henry; and I hastened to quit Matlock, with which that terrible scene was thus associated.

</blockquote>

Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration Matlock, to an engraving of a painting by Thomas Allom, is subtitled "To the memory of a favourite child (the daughter of a friend) who died there". It was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839.

William Berry's poem "Matlock" appeared in his collection A Victim to Glamour: And Other Poems. Leeds: T. Barmby, 1874.

Carola Dunn's mystery Gone West (2012) is set in Matlock.

Youth hostels

The Youth Hostels Association (YHA) has its national headquarters in the former Severn Trent Water building on Dimple Road, Matlock.

Notable residents

  • John Bowne (1627–1695), a Quaker and an English settler residing in the Dutch colony of New Netherland.
  • Joseph George Cumming (1812–1868), geologist and archaeologist, worked on the geology and history of the Isle of Man.
  • Augustus Arkwright (1821–1887), from Willersley Castle, Royal Navy officer, politician and MP for North Derbyshire, 1868 to 1880.
  • John Wolley (1823–1859), naturalist with a large collection of bird eggs and studies on the dodo and great auk.
  • John E. Amoore (1930–1998), biochemist who proposed the stereochemical theory for olfaction.
  • Phillip Whitehead (1937–2005), politician, MP for Derby North, 1970–1983 and later MEP
  • Ann Leslie (1941–2023), a formidable journalist who went to school locally
  • Alan Parker (born 1944), guitarist and composer
  • Charles Webster (born c. 1965), DJ and record producer
  • Ben Ottewell (born 1976), singer-songwriter of the indie-rock band Gomez, winners of the 1998 Mercury Prize
  • Isy Suttie (born 1978), comedian and actress, brought up locally

Sport

  • Bill Bradbury (1933–1999), footballer who played 257 games including 178 for Hull City
  • Bert Loxley (1934–2008), footballer and manager who played 245 games for Notts County
  • Brian Edmeades (born 1941), cricketer who played 255 First-class cricket matches with Essex
  • Graham Brown (born 1944), football goalkeeper, played 329 games including 142 at Mansfield Town
  • Gary Crewe (born 1946), former British international cyclist

<gallery mode="packed">

Image:Matlock morning, fog, rotate.jpg|Matlock morning view from east, Lumsdale

Image:Town of Matlock.JPG|Matlock viewed from a nearby ridge

Image:Power of the Sun.JPG|The town enjoys the Sun's rays as shade approaches

Image:Lovely view.JPG|The town as seen from the nearby cable cars

</gallery>

See also

  • Listed buildings in Matlock Town

References

  • Local Histories – Matlock, Matlock Bath and Matlock Dale
  • Matlock tourist information website