Town Trails - Matlock Town Council

MATLOCK -ITS HISTORY AND BACKGROUNDMatlock BridgeRiber CastleIn 1848, Matlock town centre, as we see ittoday, did not exist. Apart from one or twobuildings near Matlock Bridge, therewere no properties at all along what isnow Dale Road. The north side of theriver, (presently occupied by Crown Square,lower Bank Road and Causeway Lane), wassimilarly largely free of any building,except for Bridge House (now incorporatedinto the Town Hall) and a smithy &adjacent property (long demolished)situated by the bridge at the edge of whatis now the Hall Leys Park. At that time,the nucleus of Matlock was in the vicinityof St Giles’ Church and Church Street (nowreferred to as Old Matlock), Matlock Greenand Knowleston Place.When the railway arrived from the southin 1849, the station was called MatlockBridge. This heralded the beginning ofchange, but very slowly at first.Hydrotherapy (the treatment of illness bythe external application of water to thebody) was becoming fashionable at thetime. It fascinated the local textileentrepreneur John Smedley, who, havinghimself benefited from such treatment atBen Rhydding (in Yorkshire), opened asmall hydropathic hospital (hydro) at hisLea Bridge mill (near Matlock), formembers of his own workforce. It wouldappear that around the same time, a localman, Ralph Davis, opened a small hydroon Matlock Bank. In 1851, the two menjoined forces, but within two years,Smedley had bought out his partner.He already had the wealth. Perhaps healso had the vision to realise how his newventure could benefit from the proximityof the railway.Under the leadership of Smedley and hiswife, the establishment grew very rapidlyas wealthy clients from all over Englandcame to Smedley’s Hydro (as it wasknown) for treatment. Smedleyencouraged his ex-bathmen to open theirown smaller hydros to cater for the lesswell off. In addition, businessmen fromsurrounding towns began to invest in thisnew growth area. By 1898, there were2