MATLOCK is a village and parish, in the hundred of Wirksworth; 144 miles from London, 42 S.S.E. from Manchester, 34 N.W. from Nottingham, 18 N.W. by N. from Derby, 14 N.N.E. from Ashbourn, and rather more than 3 N. from Wirksworth. The village is most delightfully situate, partly in a valley, and partly on the side of a hill, on the eastern banks of the river Derwent, and at a short distance from the main road. It is chiefly built of stone, and at its entrance is a neat stone bridge; at some distance from which, on the verge of a most romantic rock, and upon a precipice almost perpendicular, stands the church, dedicated to St. Giles, shrouded amidst trees whose luxuriant foliage spreads over the face of the grey rock.

The building is an ancient erection, with a square tower and arched roof, the interior of which is covered with paintings, taken from various scriptural subjects. In many parts of the church yard the graves are cut out of the solid rock: the dean of Lincoln is patron of the living, which is a rectory. Fairs for cattle are held here on February 25th, April 2nd, May 9th, and October 24th. The parish of Matlock contained, in 1821, 2,920 inhabitants, and in 1831, 3,262.

MATLOCK BATH, about a mile and a half S.S.W. from the village, is seated in a valley, amidst scenery of unparalleled grandeur and variety. The appendages of picturesque beauty are here so happily united, that they cannot fall in raising those indescribable associations invariably attending a mind attuned to the contemptation of such sublime scenes - which to delineate, the powers and variations of the pencil must be employed, as alone adequate. To enter into a particular description of the petrifying wells, the numerous caverns, and the variety of fancy articles manufactured and produced here, and to do justice to the general interest, would form a little volume.

The Royal Museums, where articles fabricated at this place (with a variety of other fancy goods), are constantly on exhibition and sale, and open to the public daily, free of expense, from ten in the morning till nine at night, under the management of Mr. Vallance & Mr. Abbott: a library, and news-room has been added to the museum of Mrs. Mawe's.

The diseases to which the Matlock waters are peculiarly applicable are, rheumatism, and all those complaints that are increased by a relaxed state of the muscular powers. The fountain bath is situate at the foot of the towering eminence, called the 'Heights of Abraham', to which lofty altitude there is an easy ascent by a zigzag path, embellished with plants and flowers. The two principal hotels have baths attached to them, the 'Old Bath Hotel', and the 'New Bath Hotel', where very superior accommodations are afforded to the visiters resorting to this delightful region; in the former are an elegant concert or assembly room, a spacious dining-room, and a billiard-table. Numerous boarding and lodging houses, also, are adapted by their conductors to the comfort and convenience of the inmates.

Boats are constantly ready, at a spot nearly opposite the old bath, to convey the visiters to the other side of the river, or to enable them to view the magnificent scenery, as they glide upon the surface of the transparent stream. Torr Cottage, the late residence of Colonel Payne, and now in the occupation of H. Collingwood, Esq. is a neat gothic building, placed in perhaps the most delightful and romantic situation in the county; it commands the finest view of the High Torr (a perpendicular rock, rising from the bed of the river Derwent to the height of about 300 feet), and a bird's eye view ofthe variegated, wide and rich valley, hills, rocks, and woodlands, for several miles: the river Derwent, which abounds with fish, washes the garden grounds and premises. Amongst the natural curiosities are lunar rainbows, which are not unfrequent here; and the other eminences deserving attention are Masson hill, and the romantic cliff forming the boundary of the dale.

There is a commodious chapel here for the independent denomination of dissenters. and at Cromford Bridge is the episcopal chapel, begun by Sir Richard Arkwright, and completed by his son, to which there is access by the beautiful grounds of Willersley Castle; the Rev. Richard Ward is the incumbent.

BONSALL is a parish, containing a village which was once a market town, and the market cross, consisting of a pillar, bearing the date of 1687, resting on a base formed by an ascent of fifteen steps, still remains. The houses which form the village are scattered over a considerable plot of ground, the centre of which is between three and four miles N.W. from Wirksworth, and about one mile and a half from Cromford; the approach to it from the latter place being by the Via Gellia, a singularly romantic ravine.

The vicinity is diversified with hills and dales; among the latter, the dale of Bonsall is highly pleasing, and several situations around present views eminently interesting to the artist. Here are several colour-works and a manufactory for tortoiseshell combs. The church, which is dedicated to St. James, is a venerable embattled edifice, having a tower terminating in pinnacle, and supporting an octagonal spire, curiously ornamented. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the dean of Lincoln: there is also a place of worship for general baptists. The free grammar school here, was originally endowed in 1704, and further enriched in 1763.

The parish contained, in 1821, 1,396 inhabitants, but at the last census (1831) the number returned was 1,315 only.

POST OFFICE:- MATLOCK, Samuel Hodgkinson, Post Master. - Letters from Bakewell arrive every morning at half-past five, and are despatched every afternoon at three. - Letters from WIRKSWORTH arrive every afternoon at three, and are despatched every morning at half-past five.
POST OFFICE:- MATLOCK BATH, Frances Shore, Post Mistress. - Letters from WIRKSWORTH arrive every afternoon at half-past one, and are despatched every morning at half-past five.

Description(s) from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835.
Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie in May 1996.