Matlock Bath's Station building is a very unusual design. Matlock Bath is, of course, known as the Switzerland of England and this early Victorian building resembles a Swiss chalet. The lovely herringbone brick pattern between the timber framing is known as nogging.

Both a gasometer and a gas works can be seen behind the station. At one of the Council meetings in 1900 congratulations were the order of the day because of "the continued prosperity of the Matlock Bath Gas Works, since they came under the management the Council"^[1] a short time before^[2].

There were, however, a number of complaints about the smells emanating from the works. In 1894, for example, the secretary of the Matlock and District Gas Company, Robert Hall, criticised what he claimed was the objectionable character of the Gas Works site, "where the visitors caught the odour as soon as they arrived". He suggested that, as Matlock had sufficient capacity to supply the whole of both districts, the Bath works could be dispensed with. There was strong opposition to this in Matlock Bath^[3]. Mr. Firth, never one to hold back, also deplored "the familiar reek of gas works" in 1908^[4].

The station masters produced some wonderful floral displays at the station before WW1

The Midland Railway Company began planting shrubs at their stations in 1897. Its then Station Master, Mr. Richardson, had won a number of prizes for the best kept station gardens, as we can see here, but his out of pocket expenses would not have been covered by the prize money. A local journalist commented that, despite all Richardson's efforts, "There is one desolate patch at Matlock Bath Station, where the slopes of the railway banks are desolate and inartistic". He felt, in what only can described as a large hint, that it was not too much for Matlock Bath's station to be the next place to be recognised by the Directors^[5].

View even more about the station by clicking on the images below:

1860s	19C stereoview1	19C stereoview2	1862	Tunnel, 19C
	About 1906	1906-08	Station House	Today, image3

High Tor, Matlock Bath, a postcard from 1906 or before, is a similar scene in the "Just" Images section.

References (coloured links are to transcripts and information elsewhere on this web site):

^[1] "Derbyshire Times", 18 August 1900. Matlock Bath Gas Works. Continued Prosperity.

^[2] See references to Matlock Bath Gaslight and Coke Company Limited in the London Gazette, 1895 and Royal Assent, Matlock Bath Gas Act London Gazette, 1896

^[3] Firth, J. B. (1908), "Highways and Byways", chapter sub-heading "A Spoilt Paradise".

^[4] "Derbyshire Times", 27 March 1897. Gleanings of the Peak.