"Matlock," from Encyclopaedia Britannica (1797), III
{683} MATLOCK, a town or village of
Derbyshire, near Wicksworth,
situated on the very edge of the Derwent; noted for its bath,
the water of which is milkwarm; and remarkable for the huge
rocks in its environs, {684} particularly those called the
Torr, on the east side of the Derwent, over against it,
which seem to be piled one upon another. It is an extensive
straggling village, built in a very romantic style, on the steep
side of a mountain, rising irregularly from the bottom to nearly
the summit. Near the bath are several small houses, whose
situation is on the little natural horizontal parts of the
mountain, a few yards above the road, and in some places the
roofs of some almost touch the floors of others. There are
excellent accomodations for company who resort to the bath; and
the poorer inhabitants are supported by the sale of
petrifications, crystals, &c. and notwithstanding the rockiness
of the soil, the cliffs produce an immense number of trees,
whose foliage adds greatly to the beauty of the place.
