In January 1890 Mr. Charles Peters, who lived at Guilderoy in Matlock Bath^[1], showed great foresight by making an extremely generous gesture to prevent development at Artists' Corner. He advanced £200 to Messrs. Wilshire and Grundy of Derby for the purchase of eleven plots of land along the river bank opposite High Tor that were already in the hands of "building speculators" with the intention of building cottages^[2]. He had already issued a circular, which was sent to Matlock's Local Board. Their response was divided, with some suggesting they should leave the scheme alone as it was outside their district although Mr. Nuttall pointed out that it would enhance Matlock Bridge more than Matlock Bath. So they left the matter in abeyance^[3].

A public meeting, chaired by Mr. F. C. Arkwright, was then held in Matlock's Town Hall to consider the proposal and Mr. Peters received considerable support. Time was not on their side as they only had 14 days to purchase the largest plot. A committee set up to receive subscriptions to pay for the land and to negotiate with the owners. At this point Mr. Arkwright had consented to several adjoining plots being added to the scheme. Both he and J. C. Arkwright had promised to give £100 and others agreed to similar donations^[3].

The plan to purchase lots from Wilshire and Grundy was later abandoned as by the end of the year they had only £700 and the vendors has asked for £2,500^[4] but in early January it was revived and Mr. Peters signed over the deposit^[3].

The outlay was for a public promenade and to protect the scenery at Matlock Dale, thus preventing "the blocking up of the view from the main thoroughfare"^[5]. More land for the scheme was promised by Mr. Arkwright if a further plot could be secured. This was a piece of land that belonged to Mr. Wilcockson of Chesterfield that was then occupied by Henry Martin. It was hoped by many that a promenade along the river bank would link Matlock and Matlock Bath.

Mr. Bryan added that in January 1899 [?1889] the Urban Council "gave instructions to their clerk to prepare a lease on the purchase principle for a rental of the land at £20 per annum"^[6]

This photograph, which was taken from Pic Tor, shows some of the plots of land. The railway track to the left is just about discernible amongst the trees. Bottom right is the iron footbridge over the River Derwent and on the other side of the road was Greatorex's tar boiling house^[7]. Next to it are the cottages designed by Sir Guy Dawber and the Matlock / Matlock Bath boundary bisects the road almost immediately past that point. St. John's Road forks off to the right and the main road, on which there is a pony and trap, bends round to Artists' Corner. Up on the hill, past Shining Cliff, are two further properties. It is hard to identify them as they are not easy to see, but they must be Cliff House and Masson Farm.

In 1893 a caravan, said to be the home of an artist, was to be found somewhere along the Dale towards Artists' Corner. Another had appeared near the Boat House Hotel and was said to be inhabited by a chimney sweep. A local newspaper commented that "At any rate it is located near Artist's Corner, and makes the view of this singularly picturesque scenery attractive through its resemblance to the proximity of a show ground"^[8]! Oh dear.

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

^[1] Mr. Peters was at Guilderoy in the 1881 census | the 1891 census. He was also listed in Kelly's 1891 Directory. See Biographies (P)

^[2] "Derbyshire Courier", 23 November, 1889. This paper reported that 50 plots were planned, all with a road frontage, with 17 of those plots already sold. Nevertheless, the sold plots could be repurchased.

^[3] "Derby Mercury", 11 December, 1889. The Proposed improvement of Matlock

^[4] "Derby Mercury", 1 January, 1889. Matlock Bath Promenade Scheme.

^[5] Matlock Dale Promenade Scheme, reported in "The Derby Mercury", Wednesday, 8 January, 1890 - Meeting at the Crown Hotel.

^[6] Benjamin Bryan, in his "History of Matlock" (1903) also mentions the purchase.

^[7] There is more information about Greatorex's tar boiling business on the page about The Quarries

^[8] "The Matlock Visiting List", 8 Nov 1893.