The two houses on the left are almost opposite the colour works
bridge on Dale Road which is on the right, out of the shot
just around the bend in the road. In 1868 both properties
were for sale[1],
advertised by Mr. F. W. Stevens[2] who
was one of the owners of the colour works.
Tor House or Villa (as opposed to Tor Cottage further down
the Dale) was the stone built house in the middle of the
picture, set back from the road and reached by a drive; it
had over 2 acres of ground. This was the home of the Stevens
family. In the 1840s and
1850s Thomas Robinson had owned Tor House and the two semi-detached
properties[3].
The three storey property nearer to the cameraman,
at the entrance to the Tor House drive and next to the road,
seems to have been divided into two. Underneath were two
stables and a coach house at road level[1].
These are partly obscured in the picture by the open carriage
driving down the road. It looks as if the driver is standing
up, perhaps asking some of the passers-by if they want to
be taken somewhere. Matlock Bath's surgeon, Dr,
Joseph Adam, lived in one half of this building in the late
1860s[1]. He had
been in Matlock Bath since the mid 1840s[4] and
died in Matlock Dale in 1871. His obituary described him
as a "talented physician" and amongst the mourners at his
funeral at Holy Trinity Church were Robert Chadwick, Esq.,
F. W. Stevens, Esq. and the Rev. R. P. Pelley, Vicar of Matlock
Bath and Dr. Webb of Wirksworth[5].
Whilst the upper floors of the nearer house fell victim
to the 1966 landslip and were demolished, the stables
and coach house underneath the property are still in the
Dale today.
Enlargement of left hand image
 A later view of this
part of the Dale can be seen in the "Just"
Dale images.
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