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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