The village of Matlock is situated on the banks of the river Derwent. The houses are principally of stone; and at the entrance of the village is a neat stone bridge. The Church, which stands on the verge of a romantic rock, consists of a nave, side aisles, and a small chancel; the outside is embattled, having an ancient tower, with pinnacles, whimsically decorated with figures of grotesque animals for spouts. "At the time of compiling the Doomsday Book, Matlock appears to have been a hamlet of the manor of Metesford (the situation of which is now unknown), which was part of the demesnes of the crown. It afterwards became a part of the estate of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, who had a charter of free warren for his demesne lands here. On the attainder of his son Robert de Ferrers, for espousing the cause of Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, Matlock then became a manor, reverted to the crown, and was granted, in the 7th of Edward I. to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and continued a part of the possessions of the earldom and duchy of Lancaster, til the 4th of Charles I. when it was granted by that king, along with a great number of other manors and estates, to Edward Ditchfield, and the other trustees, to the copyholders of the manor of Matlock, and is now divided in several small shares."

Matlock Bath is situated about a mile and a half from the village; and though few situations can be more beautiful, it was only occupied by some rude cottages inhabited by miners, till about the year 1698, at which time its warm springs began to attract notice, for their medicinal qualities. About this period the original bath was built and paved by the Reverend Mr. Fern, of Matlock, and Mr. Heyward of Cromford; and put into the hands of G. Wragg, who to confirm his title took a lease from the several lords of the manor, for 99 years, paying them a fine of 150l. and the yearly rent or acknowledgment of sixpence each. He then built a few small rooms adjoining to the bath, which were but a poor accommodation for strangers. The lease and property of Mr. Wragg were afterwards purchased for about 1,000l. by Messrs. Smith and Pennel, of Nottingham, who erected two large buildings with stables and other conveniences; made a coach-road along the river side from Cromford, and improved the horseway from Matlock bridge. The whole estate afterwards became the property of Mr. Pennel, by purchase; and on his death, which happened about the year 1733, descended to his daughter and her husband ; but it is now the joint property of several persons.

Matlock lies about 12 miles south-east of Buxton : its romantic beauty as well as the salutary springs which enrich this sequestered spot, render it dear to the man of taste as well as to the invalid. To the former it presents nature in her wildest and most picturesque attire, and to the latter it furnishes gaiety without dissipation, and tranquility without gloom. The philosopher also may derive abundant gratification from the various objects around him, which never fail in supplying themes for the man of science. Matlock Bath consists of little more than three inns known by the names of the Old Bath, the New Bath, the Hotel and two commodious lodging houses, all situated on the south-east side of the berwent, affording accommodations to about 400 visitors, who enjoy all the comforts of society without unnecessary ceremony or parade, at a moderate expense. These buildings are elegantly constructed of stone; the roads in the vicinity are as smooth as gravel walks, and exercise either on foot or in a carriage is as delightful as possible; and though rain frequently falls here, the nature of the soil quickly absorbs the superabundant moisture and humidity, so that it is never known to injure the health of the most delicate. Between the Temple and the Old Bath, is Miss Millns’s Circulating Library and her long established Repository, for many ornamental and useful articles which are occasionally wanted here. In a situation lower than this are several excellent lodging houses, particularly in that very long handsome building formerly kept as an hotel. Messrs. Brown and Mawe’s Museum here, contains elegant vases, chimney pieces, and a great variety of other articles formed of spar, marble and alabaster, and a very interesting collection of shells, fossils, &c. Admittance into this room is free of expense. There are two other repositories at the south end of this building for various elegant articles of jewelery ; also a news room, a collection of maps and prints, and a circulating library. The hotel here occupied by Mr. Smith has much room, and good stabling belonging to it, with an excellent bath ; and nearly opposite to this house is that of Mr. Buxton, a confectioner. The Rutland, and the two Cumberland Caverns are shewn by persons residing at Matlock, and who are well acquainted with the premises. Excursions to Upperwood, the caverns about it, and to Cliff House, are worth making. From the mouth of Rutland Cavern there is an excellent view of Matlock Dale and the neighbouring country. At a house lately erected called the Tower at the lower part of the hill, the views are striking ; this is called Belle Vue. A little way below is the Temple, an excellent lodging house, kept by its proprietor. The romantic and picturesque scenery here, is thus described by Dr. Darwin

"Where as proud Masson rises rude and bleak,

And with mishapen turrets crests the peak,

Old Matlock gapes with marble jaws beneath,

And o’er scar’d Derwent bends his flinty teeth ;

Deep in wide caves below the dangerous soil,

Blue sulphurs flame, imprison’d waters boil.

Impetuous streams in spiral columns rise,

Through rifted rocks impatient for the skies;

Or o’er bright seas of bubbling lavas blow,

As heave and toss the billowy fires below;

Condens’d on high in wandering rills they glide,

From Masson’s dome and burst his sparry side ;

Round his grey tow’rs and down his fringed walls,

From cliff to cliff the liquid treasure falls;

In beds of stalactite, bright ores among,

O’er corals, shells, and crystals winds along;

Crusts the green mosses and the tangled wood,

And sparkling plunges to his native flood.

The usual time of bathing and drinking the water is before breakfast, or between breakfast and dinner : a small quantity is at first taken increasing it gradually as the stomach will bear. The Matlock season commences about the latter end of April and continues till November, though even in winter Matlock is not devoid of attractions. For the accommodation of correspondence a post sets out on horseback early every morning, passes through Matlock and Wirksworth on his way to Derby, and returns in the evening. A petty Post Office has also been established at Matlock in the lower part of Fox’s lodging house. A coach passes through Wirksworth towards London and Manchester every day. Each of the inns supplies excellent post chaises, open carriages, and saddle horses. The London waggons are met at the Tiger Inn in Derby every Monday and Friday by a carrier from Wirksworth, who, upon his return, proceeds to Matlock.

Matlock Dale (in which the baths are situated) is perhaps superior in natural beauty to any of the most finished places in this kingdom. It consists of a winding vale, of above three miles in length, through which the Derwent runs. The course of this river is here extremely various : in some places the breadth is considerable, and the stream smooth ; in others it breaks upon the rocks, and falling over the fragments, forms several beautiful though slight cascades. The boundaries of the vale are cultivated hills on one side, and very bold rocks, with pendant woods, on the other. On crossing the river near the turnpike, a winding path up the rock leads to a range of fields at the top, bounded by a precipice, and forming one of the finest natural terraces in the world. At the top, on turning to the left, is a projecting point called Hag-rock ; from whence is a perpendicular view down a vast precipice to the river, which here forms a fine sheet of water, fringed with wood on the opposite side. The valley is small, and bounded immediately by the hills, which rise boldly from it, and are cut into inclosures, some of a fine verdure, others scarred with rocks, and some full of wood; the variety of which is pleasing, and the whole view noble. Advancing along the precipice, the views through the straggling branches of the woods, which grow on the edge of it, are very picturesque ; in some places the water alone is seen ; in others glens of woods, dark and gloomy, but sometimes opening, and presenting to the eye various cheerful views of the dale and cultivated hills. These scenes continue till an elm whose dividing branches, growing on the rocky edge of the precipice, form a natural balustrade, over which the river both ways presents several fine sheets of water, with four picturesque cascades. To the left the shore is hanging wood, from the precipice down to the water’s edge ; but the rocks break from it in several places, the projections exhibiting a variety of shade on the back ground. At the top of the rocks, and quite surrounded with wood, two small inclosures are seen, divided by straggling trees.—The opposite side of the vale is formed by many hanging inclosures, the higher boundary being a great variety of hill cut in fields. To the right the scene is different; the edging of the water is a thick stripe of wood, so close that the trees seem to grow from the water : they form a dark shade, under which the water is smooth. Above this wood appear some houses, surrounded by several grass fields, beautifully shelving down, amidst wood and rock; above the whole is seen a hill, bare, but broken by rocky spots ; a little farther, is a projecting point, edged with small ash trees, from which is seen a smooth reach of the river through a thick dark wood ; presenting a pleasing variation from the preceding scenes. Above it, to the right, is a vast perpendicular rock, 150 feet in height, rising out of a dark wood, itself being covered with trees, and forming a most magnificent scene. On turning to another wave in the edge of the precipice, an opening in the shrubbery-wood presents a reach of the river, embosomed in a deep shade of wood ; this leads to a point of rock higher than any of the preceding, and, being open, presents a full view of all the wonders of the valley. To the left the river flows under a noble shore of hanging wood ; and above the whole is a vast range of inclosures, which rise one above another in the most beautiful manner. This point of view is likewise high enough to command a new vale behind the precipice; and the ridge of rocky hill, shelving gently down, is lost in a fine waving vale of cultivated fields of a pleasant verdure, and bounded by the side of an extended bare hill. A few yards farther a turn to the point of a very bold projection of the rock, opens to new scenes; the river is seen, both to the right and left, environed with thick wood. On the opposite hill four grass inclosures of a fine verdure are skirted with trees, through the branches of which may be perceived fresh shades of green ; the whole forming a pleasing contrast to the rocky wonders of the precipice ; from hence the wood excludes the view for some distance, till on turning to a point with a seat, called Adam’s Bench, the rock projects very much into the dale, and gives a full command of all the woody steeps which have been passed, and the range of hanging wood almost perpendicular from the lofty rocks reaches down to the very water. The bare rocks in some places bulge out, but never without a skirting of open wood: the immediate shore on the other side is wood, and higher up are raised inclosures. On the whole, a nobler union of wood and water is scarcely to be imagined. Leaving the precipice, a path cut in the rock leads to the bottom, where another walk is made along the banks of the river, but parted from it by a thick edging of wood, quite arched with trees, the wood being so thick as to be quite impervious, and the roar of the falls in the river giving an air of solemnity to the scene, scarcely to be described. In other spots the grove to the water is thin enough to let in the glittering of the sunbeams on the river, which in such a dark sequestered path has a most pleasing effect. This shaded walk leads to a bank in view of a small cascade on the opposite side of the river, beyond which is an opening to the right, to a fine swell of wood, and another to the left against the great hill.

Another part of the vale, which we would advise the stranger to visit is to the high rock, which is at a small distance, the path leading to it presenting several fine views. The rock is 450 feet perpendicular, the river being directly below; opposite is a vast sweep of hills, which rise in the boldest manner, with a picturesque knot of inclosures in the middle of it; on the one side is a steep ridge of rock, and on the other is a varied precipice of rock and wood. From hence is a view of the Old Bath, with a fine front of wood, and many varied waves of inclosures bounded by distant hills. Farther on, on the same eminence, is a point of bare rock, from whence is a perpendicular precipice of 500 feet; with the river at the bottom breaking over fragments of rock. Beyond this is another point, from whence is a double view of the river beneath, as it were in another region : to the left the great rock rises from the bosom of a vast wood ; and a little to the right the river gives a fine bend through a narrow meadow of a beautiful verdure. In the centre, a round hill, rising out of a wood, in the midst of a vast sweep of inclosures, has a most beautiful effect. In one place, a steeple rises from a knot of wood ; and a variety of scattered villages, in others, unite to render this scene truly picturesque, and different from all other places in this kingdom.

Among the natural curiosities of Matlock are the lunar rainbows, which are not infrequent in this neighbourhood. The colours are sometimes exceedingly well defined, but they have a more tranquil tone than those originating in the solar beams. A very beautiful one was seen on the evening of the 10th of September, 1802, between the hours of eight and nine, the effect of which was particularly pleasing.

Near the New Bath is a petrifying spring, which has furnished innumerable specimens of transmutations of vegetable, animal, and testaceous substances, that have been exposed to its influence. The collection, which is exhibited by the person who keeps the spring, contains several extraordinary exemplifications of its powers of action.

On the west side of the river, in the hill, are two subterranean cavities; one of which, called the Cumberland Cavern, is reported to have formerly communicated with the entrance of a lead-mine, but displays nothing particularly remarkable ; the other is called the Smedley Cavern, from the name of the discoverer, who acts as a guide to its recesses, and by whose exertions, for more than 17 years, the numerous projections of the rocks, which formerly impeded the passage, were removed. The entrance, which is near the top of the hill, continues tolerably level for about 20 yards, when winding irregularly amidst rude and disjointed crags, the way descends for some distance; beyond which, for several hundred yards, is a gentle ascent, through several vaults or hollows, the largest of which is about 50 feet long and 20 wide, having a concave roof, gradually sloping to the extremity of the cavern ; the bottom of which is composed of immense masses of broken rock, lying confusedly upon each other, and forming a ceiling to another vault below, into which is a descent by a natural flight of rude steps.

MATLOCK is an extensive parish in the Western division of the county, hundred, county court district and petty sessional division of Wirksworth, Bakewell union, rural deanery of Bakewell, archdeaconry of Derby and diocese of Southwell. Matlock Old Town is half a mile south-east from Matlock Bridge station on the Midland railway, 148 ½ miles from London, 16 ½ miles north-by-west from Derby, 10 south-west-by-south from Chesterfield, 10 south-east from Bakewell, 10 from Belper, 4 north-by-east from Wirksworth, 66 from Rugby, 46 from Leicester, 23 ½ from Loughborough, 32 from Nottingham, 65 ¼ from Lincoln, 164 from Bath, 59 from Birmingham, 107 from Cheltenham, 69 ½ from Leeds, 294 ¾ from Edinburgh, 56 from Melton, 40 ¾ from Sheffield, 49 ¾ from Doncaster and 83 ¾ from York. The parish is divided into several districts or localities, the principal of which are Matlock Bank, Matlock Bridge and Matlock Town and Green. Matlock Bath was constituted a separate parish under the “Local Government Act, 1894” (56 and 57 Vict. c. 73), with separate local government, and the remainder of the parish is now under the control of an Urban District Council. The trustees of the late William Pole Thornhill esq. and others are trustees for the copyholders, who are lords of the manor. The land owners are Frederic Charles Arkwright esq. of Willersley, the trustees of the late Samuel Smith esq. the Rev. Charles Wolley-Dod M.A. of Edgehall, Malpas, and numerous freeholders.

The land is chiefly in pasture; soil and subsoil, limestone and gritstone. The area is 4,141 acres of land and 48 of water; rateable value, £32,265; the population in 1861, including Matlock Bath, Matlock Bank, Matlock Bridge, Riber, Scarthin Nick and Starkholmes, was 4,252, in 1871 was 5,220, in 1881 was 6,093, and in 1891 was 7,131, but since 1894 it has been reduced by 1,846, taken to form the new parish of Matlock Bath. The population of St. Giles’ ecclesiastical parish in 1891 was 2,319.

Petty sessions are held at the Market hall, Matlock Bridge, every alternate Wednesday at 11 a.m. . The following places are included in the district:-Bonsall, Cromford, Dethick, Lea & Holloway, Matlock, Tansley, North Darley, Wensley & Snitterton (South Darley).

VOLUNTEERS

2nd Volunteer Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment) (K Co.), Matlock Bridge, Hon. Major J. R. Dudley, commanding.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of Services

St. Giles’ Parish Church, Matlock Town, Rev. James Wm.Kewley, rector; 10.30 a.m. . & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

All Saints’, Matlock Bank, Rev. Adam Lowe M.A vicar; Sundays, 10.30 a.m. . & 6.30 p.m.; on all holy days at 10.30 a.m. . & Wednesdays at 7 p.m.; the church is open daily from 10 to 5.

Church of England Mission Rooms, Starkholmes.

Catholic Church of Our Lady & St. Joseph, Matlock Bank; mass & instruction, 10 a.m. .; benediction, 6.30 p.m.

Society of Friends’ Meeting House, Matlock Bank, 10.30 a.m. . & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 10.30 a.m.

Congregational, Matlock Bank, Rev. James Wayman; 10.30 a.m. . & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Matlock Bank; 10.30 a.m. . & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.15 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Starkholmes.

United Methodist Free Church, Matlock Bridge.

United Methodist Free Church, Riber.

Wesleyan Methodist, Matlock Bank, Rev. J. Hawkins Pawlyn & Rev. H. Norman Startup; Rev. Mark Davenport, supernumerary; 10.30 a.m. . & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. & Thur. 7.30 p.m.

SCHOOLS

Church National School (mixed), Matlock Bank, erected in 1876, for 320 children; average attendance (total), 240.

School (infants), erected in 1898 for 134 children.

Endowed, Matlock Town (mixed), founded by Mr. George Spateman in 1647 & has an annual income of £40: new buildings were erected in 1870 & enlarged in 1889 at a cost of £500, for 250 children; average attendance, 157 boys & girls & 81 infants.

National, Starkholmes (mixed), erected in 1878, for 80 children; average attendance, 48.

Board School, Matlock Bank (mixed & infants), erected in 1897, for 250 mixed & 150 infants; average attendance, 250 mixed & 120 infants.