page_title: Matlock, Derbyshire
section_title: Natural physical features
hierarchical_section_title: Matlock, Derbyshire / Geography / Natural physical features
caption_attribution_description: English: Matlock - Bailey's Mill
context_page_description: Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated at the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The town is twinned with the French town of Eaubonne. The former spa resort of Matlock Bath lies immediately south of the town on the A6. The civil parish of Matlock Town had a population in the 2011 UK census of 9,543. The population of the wider Matlock urban area is approximately 20,000.
  Matlock is nine miles south-west of Chesterfield and in easy reach of the cities of Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham; the Greater Manchester conurbation is 30 miles away. Matlock is within the Derbyshire Dales district, which also includes the towns of Bakewell and Ashbourne, as well as Wirksworth. The headquarters of Derbyshire County Council are in the town.
context_section_description: The main physical features of the Matlock area are the hills and watercourses.  The height of the town (above mean level) varies from 91m at Causeway Lane (in the valley bottom) to 203m at the top of Wellington Street.  Matlock is overlooked by Riber Castle at 260m from the south-east and by Masson Hill at 339m from the south-west.  The first human settlement in the area was in what is now known as Old Matlock or Matlock Green.  This was where the Bentley Brook joined the River Derwent.  When the town grew in the late 19th century, the town spread up the steep hillsides to the north-east of the narrow valley bottom.
  Various industries made use of the natural features:
  The underlying bedrocks were quarried and mined.
  The watercourses were harnessed to power corn, cloth and other mills.
  The hillside thermal spring water gave rise to the hydros.
  The natural features also constrained transport links:
  In the Derwent gorge below High Tor, the present-day A6 (Dale Road) was squeezed in beside the river.
  From the south, the Midland Railway reached Matlock Station via a series of short tunnels constructed under the limestone of the gorge.
  A cable tramway was constructed to tackle the very steep Bank Road (see above).
caption: Baileys (corn) Mill on Bentley Brook
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