Matlock Bath's Royal Hotel with the Royal Pavilion (re-branded as
the Palais Royal in 1923) and its gardens before the 1908 rear
extension. The Pavilion's promenade terraces were both on the
same level as the building and also on the hillside slightly
below. There is a line of conifers behind one and in front of
another in the above picture. The long driveway up the hillside
to the Palais Royal can also be seen. At the bottom of the picture
is one of the entrances to the Derwent Gardens.
Below are two nineteenth century quotations about the Royal Hotel:
"The Royal hotel, built on the site of the old bath, is a new
and substantial stone building, and the great mineral spring adjoining
it yields 10,000 gallons an hour (Kelly, 1881[1])".
"The Matlock Bath Pavilion and Gardens Company Limited was
established in 1883 for the purpose of developing and improving
the natural advantages of the place as a health and pleasure resort.
The Company, with a fixed capital of £18,000, have purchased
about 15 acres of freehold land on the side of the hill near the
Royal hotel, upon which a handsome pavilion, having a frontage of
228 feet, has been erected, and the grounds in front converted into
three extensive promanade terraces which command most picturesque
views : a considerable portion of the grounds, especially the rear,
consists of natural rockery, and altogether the whole forms a most
interesting and pleasing resort (Kelly, 1887[2])". |
References:
[1] "Kelly's Directory of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Derbyshire",
Ed. E. R. Kelly Pub. London (1881)
[2] "Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire",
Pub. London (1887)
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