The scene stealer here must be the row of young boys with their white collars and caps and their backs pressed against the stone wall. What is curious, though, is what looks like a thatched shed in the church yard.

Holy Trinity Church had opened in 1842 and was, unusually, built on the north to south orientation so the altar window, seen in the photograph, was at the southern end. The church sits on a platform or shelf above the A6 trunk road^1]. Bulmer's Directory described Holy Trinity in 1895 as "a handsome cruciform edifice in the Decorated Gothic style, erected in 1842, at a cost of £2,250. In 1874-5 the chancel was lengthened, and a south aisle added, at an expense of about £700. The tower is surmounted by a crocketed spire, 129 feet high"^[2]. Bulmer's was a year or so out with the date of the extension as the project was agreed in late 1872 and the work began in 1873^[3].

A few years before this picture was taken, the village had heard the first peal of bells for ringing in the services; before then there had only been a single bell. An anonymous donor had made a gift of the bells, costing about £200, with the largest bell being inscribed as a token of the regard for the Vicar, Rev. Charles Baker. The bells were known as the hemispherical chimes and were made by Warner and Sons, of London^[4].

The first baptism at Holy Trinity was that of William Frank Standall, the son of William Standall, a fishmonger, and his wife Sarah on 9 October 1842^[5]. The first marriage solemnised at the church was not until 30 Dec 1844 when Charles Potter of Upper Wood, a farmer and widower, married Dorothy Wildgoose. The couple were later buried in the churchyard^[6]. The first burial, though, was that of Elizabeth Sarah Thomason, who was recorded as being "late of Manchester"^[7].

The view of the north end of Holy Trinity was taken from high on the Lovers' Walks and is an enlargement of the top image on Matlock Bath: Derwent Gardens - from Lovers Walks, before 1905.

Holy Trinity Church, Matlock Bath - Memorial Inscriptions in the Church
Holy Trinity Church, Matlock Bath - Memorial Inscriptions in the Churchyard
Finding the Churchyard Inscriptions
Matlock Bath Burials, 1845 - 1866
Matlock Bath Holy Trinity Banns, from 1846

Also see Stereoview of 'Matlock Church', 1867 "in the Just Images" section. Whilst the stereoview is labelled Matlock, it clearly shows Holy Trinity.

The church is mentioned in Hall's "Days in Derbyshire", 1863, Chapter the Fourth. Matlock Dale.

References (coloured links lead to more on site information):

^[1] The A6 was detrunked in 2002: 2002 No.1168. Highways, England. The A6 Trunk Road (Derby to Stockport (detrunking) Order 2002. © Crown copyright 2002.

^[2] T. Bulmer & Co (1895), "History, Topography, and Directory of Derbyshire ...", Printed by T. Snape & Co., Preston.

^[3] Reports in "The Derby Mercury", 1872 and 1873.

^[4] "The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent", 18 September, 1899. Benjamin Bryan, in his "History" of 1903, revealed that the anonymous donor was John Edward Lawton, who lived at Woodbank.

^[5] See the Standall family entry in the 1841 census. William was living with his mother in Scarthin in the 1851 census.

^[6] Charles Potter was living in Upper Wood in 1841 and Dorothy Wildgoose was working at the New Bath (address not given in the census) | the 1851 census. They were both buried at Matlock Bath Holy Trinity

^[7] See the burial transcript for Matlock Bath Holy Trinity. Was this Eliza in the 1841 census?