cressbrook peak district information logo - accommodation walking cycling

Peak District Towns and Villages: Matlock

An index to Peak District towns and villages including Matlock, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Leek, Matlock, Macclesfield and Wirksworth in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, England, UK.
Slideshow

Matlock

Local Services:

B & B

Self Catering

Food and Drink

Local Geography:
Area Map

Nearby Villages

Local Attractions

Matlock, the county town of Derbyshire, is a former spa town situated at a sharp bend in the River Derwent, where it turns south to carve its way through the ridge of limestone which bars its route towards Derby. Just downriver of the main town lies Matlock Bath, which is enclosed by the limestone cliffs of the gorge and contains the main tourist attractions of the locality.

Matlock church at Matlock Town
Matlock church at Matlock Town
In many respects Matlock seems quite a new town, certainly when compared with Buxton or Bakewell for instance. The reason is that Matlock was an unimportant collection of small villages centred around the church at Matlock Town (where the only buildings of any age are to be found) until thermal springs were discovered in 1698. Even this did not lead to an immediate development of Matlock because the route down the Derwent was blocked by Willersley crags at Cromford, so the road to Matlock from the south arrived by a circuitous and hilly route.

Matlock Bath
Matlock Bath
This situation was remedied by the cutting of the road through Scarthin Nick near Cromford in 1818, though Matlock had already begun to gain a reputation as a rather select spa by then. The Victorian era saw the development of Matlock Bath as a fashionable resort and the construction by John Smedley in 1853 of the vast Hydro on the steep hill to the north of the river crossing at the centre of the town. This enormous hotel functioned as a spa until the 1950s, when it closed and was taken over by Derbyshire County Council as its headquarters.

The coming of the railways in the 1870s transformed Matlock again, this time into a resort for day-trippers from the Derby-Nottingham area and further south. From then on Matlock spawned tourist attractions in the form of show caverns, cable railways, petrifying wells, pleasure gardens and even recently a theme park. The evidence of the change which came over the place can be seen best at Matlock Bath, where the amusement arcades along the main road provide a sharp contrast with the elegant Victorian villas above.

Matlock Bath from High Tor
Matlock Bath from High Tor
The modern town is divided neatly into two: the main town radiating out from the river crossing opposite the railway station and Matlock Bath spread out along the gorge to the south. Whereas Matlock itself seems solid and Victorian with neat stone houses going in rows up the hill, the Bath has a more frivolous air with whitewashed cottages dotted along the hillside and some slightly tacky attractions nearer the river. Overlooking it all is the gigantic folly that is Riber Castle, built in the 1860s by the same John Smedley who constructed the Hydro.

The town has a full range of shops and facilities, mostly situated at the Matlock end of the town. Also at this end, up the hill towards the hydro, is the Youth Hostel. However, the principal hotels are both in the Bath - the New Bath Hotel is out on the road to Cromford opposite Wildcat crags and the Temple Hotel is on the hill below the Heights of Abraham.

The tourist information centre is in the Pavilion building at Matlock Bath, formerly the centrepiece of the spa and now the home of the Peak District Mining Museum. Telephone: 01629 555082.

Useful Local Links

Let's Stay Peak District's guide to Matlock
The Let's Stay Peak District web site is one of the most comprehensive and most successful sites devoted to the Peak District.

Nearby Places of Interest

Arkwright's Mill, CromfordCromford Mill, Cromford, Derbyshire, was Richard Arkwright's first cotton mill and was one of the industrial revolution's most important symbols. This is where the revolution in the production of cotton began.
Black Rocks Country ParkBlack Rocks Country Park, Cromford, Derbyshire, is an outcrop of sculpted gritstone rock which offers a spectacular situation above the Derwent Valley at Cromford.
Ecclesbourne Valley RailwayEcclesbourne Valley Railway is a project to reopen the railway between Wirksworth and Duffield. This is staffed and run by volunteers, based at Wirksworth Station.
Gulliver's KingdomGulliver's Kingdom is a theme park for young families, in a situation overlooking Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.
Heights of AbrahamHeights of Abraham are a tourist centre with two show caves - Rutland Cavern and Great Masson Mine - plus a cable car and other attractions, above Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.
High Peak Junction and Cromford CanalHigh Peak Junction is the former junction of the High Peak Railway and the Midland Railway, just south of Cromford
High Tor, MatlockHigh Tor is a lofty limestone crag which towers over Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. There is a public park on top.
Lead Mining Museum, Matlock BathThe Lead Mining Museum at Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, is owned by the Peak District Mines Historical Society and is in the Pavilion Building alongside the River Derwent. They also run the nearby Temple Mine, where you can see what a lead mine was like.
Masson MillsMasson Mills, Matlock Bath are Sir Richard Arkwright's masterpiece, a magnificent early 19th century mill. The mill has been converted into a shopping village, with exhibition and conference centre, but it also has a working textile museum.
Middleton TopMiddleton Top is the last surviving winding engine from the now defunct Cromford and High Peak Railway, near Middleton by Wirksworth, Derbyshire.
National Stone Centre, Middleton by WirksworthThe National Stone Centre, Middleton by Wirksworth, Derbyshire, has geological displays, fossils, stone walling courses, panning for gems and other activities.
Peak RailPeak Rail have re-opened a section of the former Midland railway which ran between Matlock and Buxton. They are based at Rowsley South station and run services from there to Matlock.
Wirksworth ChurchWirksworth Church, Derbyshire, has important and impressive Saxon carvings. Betti the Mercian monk may have been buried here, as are the Gell family and Anthony Lowe
All material © Cressbrook Multimedia 1997-2008