The modern town of Matlock is located at the eastern fringe of the Derbyshire Peak District and at the southern end of the Peak National Park - a place where limestone meets gritstone and where the lush and scenic valley is divided by the River Derwent into a place of many parts!

 

There are in fact five parts to Matlock - Matlock Town, Matlock Green, Matlock Bank, Matlock Bridge and Matlock Bath. At the time of the Norman Conquest there were just two settlements here, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1085 as Meslach (Matlock) & Mestesforde, (Matlock Bridge). Of the other parts, Matlock Bank is mainly a product of expansion and growth during and since the Hydropathic establishments of the mid 19th to mid 20th century.

 

Until the 1830's when Matlock was a hamlet its principal industry was agriculture with lead mining and quarrying as subsidiary activities. The building of the mills at Cromford, by Richard Arkwrighrt in the late 18th century provided some employment for Matlock people but it was John Smedley, born 1803, who established Hydrotheraphy in Matlock and made it one of the most celebrated centres for the treatment of ailments with water theraphy, in the country.

 

​He built the large building in Matlock Bank, home of the Derbyshire County Council since 1955, and with the arrival of the railway in 1849, Matlock's development as a spa town flourished for the next 100 years. At the turn of the 20th century more than 20 hydro's were operating. Trams use to ferry the visitors up to the hydro's. Matlock Bank is the name given to the steep hillside to the east of the River Derwent, where Bank Road rises steeply from Crown Square in the centre of town and climbs up to Smedley Street, and beyond. This was once the site of the steepest tramway in the world where the famous `Tuppence up, Penny Down' tram ran from Crown Square to the terminus at the top of Rutland Street from 1893 until 1927.

 

Hall Leys Park is in the centre of the town is a well used and much loved formal Edwardian Park within Matlock town centre. With the River Derwent passing close by, and Riber Castle looking down on it from the hilltops, it is very picturesque and provides leisure activities, including bowls, a putting green, skate park, tennis, a children's play area, a paddling pool with water jets and a miniature railway. There is also a small boating Lake but it's the traditional park with its formal flower beds and mature trees, which adds an attraction for adults. It contains a cafe, a clock tower and a bandstand.

 

Peak Rail offers a nostalgic steam and diesel train ride along four miles of track between Rowsley and Matlock. On Sundays, there is the Palatine steam train restaurant, which offers lunch, afternoon tea, or dinner.

 

St Giles Church stands on a hill overlooking the town, with some fine views of the Derwent Valley, Riber Castle and the town below. It has a Perp west tower with diagonal buttresses but the rest was rebuilt in the 19th century. It contains a Norman font, some fine stained glass windows and memorials to the Wolley family who lived at Old Riber Hall.

 

Masson Mills working textile museum is Sir Richard Arkwright's showpiece mill, which houses a unique collection of historic textile machinery and memorabilia.

 

Red House Stables at Darley Dale is a working carriage Museum and has one of the finest collections of original horse-drawn vehicles and equipment in Britain. The present collection of carriages includes one of the very few surviving Hansom cabs, Stagecoach, Royal mail coach, and numerous other private and commercial vehicles. Tours by coach and a team of four horses take tours throughout the scenery and carriage rides can be arranged from half-hour local trips to 3 to 4 hour tours to Chatsworth house and return.

 

There are certainly no shortage of places to eat and drink in Matlock with a number of different pubs, cafes and restaurants providing different tastes with lots of choice.