Information Boards and Plaques

A key function of Matlock Civic Association is to highlight places of interest in our area. We erect information boards / maps at strategic points for the benefit of both residents and visitors. We also put up blue plaques at sites of local historical significance. Tourist Information Boards have been erected at various locations in Matlock by the Town Council.

The History of Matlock; recently erected by MCA outside the florists’ shop of Robert Young near Matlock Bridge

A key function of Matlock Civic Association is to highlight places of interest in our area. We erect information boards / maps at strategic points for the benefit of both residents and visitors. We also put up blue plaques at sites of local historical significance. Tourist Information Boards have been erected at various locations in Matlock by the Town Council.


MCA Blue and Bronze Plaques

Location of the Matlock Blue Plaques (shown by red pins) and Bronze Plaques (yellow pins)

Click on square box (top right of map) to see enlarged version, then click on red or yellow pins to identify. Drag map to see neighbouring areas.


Most photographs of blue plaques are courtesy of Linda Wilson.

Building / SitePositionOS Grid ReferenceBackgroundImage
#1Bridge Hall HydroBank Road
(now south side of Derbyshire Dales D.C. offices)
SK 300 604Operated from about 1863 until 1894
#2Crown HotelBakewell Road, on corner with Bank RoadSK 298 603Opened about 1895 and only shut in 1990. Note that the pub "The Crown" (which closed in Nov.2019 after the flooding incident and has yet to re-open) kept the name, but is further along Bakewell Road than was the hotel.
#3Former Market Hall & Assembly RoomsDale Road, near Matlock Bridge (now Fatboys)SK 298 601Built in 1867 and served as the meeting place for the Matlock Local Board (the Local Council) unil 1894.
#4Ground Station ZeroSmedley Street, West (near Cycle Shop)SK 298 608Between 1940 and 1944, this house was the undercover HQ for the war effort. Click on this link for more information
#5Horseshoe InnCorner of Limetree Road / Alfreton RoadSK 304 597Matlock Green was the venue for fairs (1756-1939) and markets (1880-1914). The Horseshoe Inn would have been their local hostelry and was open for 150 years from about 1860 until 2010
#6John Smedley's Hydropathic HotelCounty Hall, on corner of Smedley Street and Bank RoadSK 301 607John Smedley (1803-1874) is probably the single person who has had the greatest influence on the Matlock that we see today. Having made his fortune as a textile entrepreneur, he became ill and resorted to hydrotherapy on the Continent. Recovered, he decided to introduce it back at home. What is now County Hall was his first hydropathic hotel, opened in 1853. It inspired the establishment of many more hydros in Matlock.
#7Lilybank HydroChesterfield Road, (on left hand side going up just below junction with Smedley Street, East)SK 304 604 This building lasted 60 years (1890-1950) as a hydro and later became a preparatory school run by the Presentation Sisters convent until 1990. It is now a care home.
#8Malvern House HydroSmedley Street
(Bathman's Cottage)
SK 300 608This hydro was founded by Job Smith, who inspired the Matlock Tramway.
#9Matlock Cable Tramway DepotRutland Street (now Matlock Green Garage)SK 303 608The Cable Tramway operated for 34 years from 1893 until 1927. The Depot is now Matlock Green Garage. The lower terminal has been preserved and moved to Hall Leys Park.
#10Matlock House HydroRutland Street, just below junction with Wellington Street. Building is now known as Rutland CourtSK 303 607Like Lilybank Hydro, Matlock House Hydro became a school when the hydro closed in 1916. Matlock House Hydro was also the local tax office in the 1970s before conversion to residential use. It is now known as Rutland Court.
#11Matlock Post Office (pre-1912)Holt Lane (now Fleurs, florist shop), just opposite Matlock BridgeSK 297 601Replaced by the Post Office on Bank Road in 1912.
#12 Rockside HydroWellington Street by Matlock Green Garage (plaque)
(but entrance is on Cavendish Road)
SK 299 610The Rockside building was used as a hydro until 1939. It was then requisitioned as an RAF hospital during the war. It was later used as a teacher training college.
#13Smedley Memorial Hospital. Originally South View Hydro; later Matlock Youth Hostel. Bank Road, on right hand side going upSK 300 604The South View Hydro became the Smedley Memorial Hospital in 1882 and was in use for 100 years until 1981. This became a Youth Hostel for about 20 years after the hospital closed, before conversion to residential use early this century.
#14Station Master's HouseStation Yard, between bus depot and rail footbridgeSK 297 602The Station Master's House is believed to have been designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, famed for the Crystal Palace and numerous other buildings. The House was in use from about 1850 until 1968. After 1968, the house continued to be occupied by the last stationmaster's family, including his daughter up until about 2019
#15Victoria Hall GardensSmedley Street East, opposite the current Sparrow ParkSK 304 605The Victoria Hall Leisure Complex was on this site from 1896 until about 1912. After that it became the Derwent Woollen Mills until 1989.
#16Victorian Charity School Church Street (bottom of hill leading to Starkholmes, on RHS just above garage)SK 303 598The School operated from 1829 until 1870. Trustees included members of the Arkwright and Nightingale families.
#17Air Raid shelter for Presentation Sisters' ConventOn lower Barley Way at bottom of new Asker Road housing development.SK 307 606This was erected by MCA in collaboration with William Davis in 2019 to record the air raid shelter that was used by the sisters and children during WW2. It is no longer accessible from the convent side.
#18Woodlands; the home of Charles White , (Senior and Junior) and Miss White's Woodlands SchoolOn Bakewell Road, opposite MacDonaldsSK 294 605Woodlands was the family home of Charles White (Snr) (1863 - 1921) who was a local MP. His son, Charles White (jnr) (1891 - 1956) was also an MP and was responsible for bringing the HQ of Derbyshire County Council to Matlock (the former Smedley's Hydro) in 1956. Between 1925 and 1946, Woodlands was used as "Miss White's Woodlands School".

In addition, MCA has installed a number of bronze plaques such as those for Bailey’s Tump (on south side of Asker Lane, near junction with Mooredge Drive; SK 309 608), Ship Loads (on Dale Road, going southwards towards Matlock Bath, by railway bridge; SK 297598) and the John Bowne Memorial (Junction of Lime Tree Road and Hurst Rise; SK 304 600). Derbyshire County Council has also installed a number of blue plaques right across the county. For details of these click here.