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Matlock
Matlock is located at the eastern fringe of the Derbyshire Peak District and at the southern end of the Peak National Park. Here limestone meets gritstone and the lush and scenic valley is divided by the River Derwent into a parish of many different parts! The region is actually composed from 5 different areas; Matlock Town, Matlock Green, Matlock Bank, Matlock Bridge and Matlock Bath. Just downriver of the main town lies Matlock Bath, which is enclosed by the limestone cliffs of the gorge and contains the main tourist attractions of the locality. The modern Matlock Bath straddles the A6 which runs alongside the River Derwent through what used to be known as the Derwent Gorge, a scenic and spectacular two mile-long stretch of the verdant and sylvan Lower Derwent Valley.
Matlock Green was once the village green belonging to the hamlet which clustered around the mainly 13th century church of St.Giles, a quarter of a mile up the road towards Starkholmes Village. Matlock Town is the name now given to the area which runs from Matlock Bridge, through Crown Square and along Causeway Lane to Matlock Green. 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.
Originally the settlement was know as Meslach and was built around the area of the parish church high on a rocky promontory on the east bank of the Derwent, about half a mile downstream from Mestesforde (Matlock Bridge). Matlock Bridge, originally a ford over the Derwent, was built in the 15th century and widened in the 19th. It was a major crossing point and meeting place where three turnpike roads culminated, and was developed as a settlement throughout the 18th & 19th centuries.
From Matlock Bridge, Dale Road runs southwards towards Cromford, passing through one of Englands most picturesque places with High Tor, the highest inland sheer cliff face in Britain rising over four hundred feet above the river, and the massive wooded hillside of Masson towering above the opposite bank of the river. There are plenty of shops and eateries to appease the many passing travellers. Walkers and Climbers come from miles around to enjoy the area and are never disappointed no matter which season they visit.
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