Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

Historical Description

Matlock Bath, a fashionable inland watering-place and ecclesiastical parish in Matlock civil parish, Derbyshire. It stands on the river Derwent, and has a station on the M.R., under High Tor and the Heights of Abraham, amid highly romantic scenery, 1½ mile S of Matlock town, and 13½ miles. N by W of Derby; sprang into existence subsequent to 1698> in connection with medicinal springs; presents a beautiful, picturesque, and attractive appearance; includes a fine terrace, commanding a view of the best features of Matlock Dale; contains four principal hotels, numerous lodging-houses, and hydropathic establishments; publishes a weekly newspaper, and has a head post office and two banks. It is governed by a local board of eleven members, and has a police station. The Matlock Bath Pavilion and Gardens were established in 1883, on a site of about 15 acres. The grounds are on the side of a hill, and have been converted into three terraces commanding picturesque views. A promenade along the river Derwent, through Matlock Dale, was laid out in 1887, and connected by an iron bridge with the Lovers' Walk on the opposide side of the river. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Southwell; gross value, £260 with residence. The church was built in 1842, and is in the Decorated English style, cruciform, with handsome tower and crocketed. spire 129 feet high. There are Congregational, Primitivfr Methodist, and Wesleyan chapels, also a mission church. The mineral springs are three; were visited in 1842 by Queen Victoria; are provided with modern bathing establishments, fitted with baths of various descriptions; and have much repute for dyspeptic and nephritic affections. Their water is. limpid and tasteless, has a temperature of 68— and a specific gravity of P003, and contains minute quantities of lime, soda,. and magnesia. The season begins in April and ends in Nov. The ecclesiastical parish includes also the hamlet of Scarthin Nick, and was constituted in 1843. Population, 1583. There are cotton and paper mills, also colour works and stone-quarries, affording employment to many of the inhabitants.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Matlock 1637-1812, Derbyshire is available to browse online.

Ancestry.co.uk, in conjunction with the Derbyshire Record Office, have the Church of England Baptisms (1538-1916), Marriages and Banns (1538-1932), and Burials (1538-1991) online.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Matlock Bath from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Matlock (St. Giles))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Derbyshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Matlock Bath are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Derbyshire papers online:

• Derby Daily Telegraph
• Derby Mercury
• Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald
• Derbyshire Courier