Matlock
High Torr &C, 1751 and 1776 |
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century : Photographs,
Postcards, Engravings & Etchings |
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Matlock High Torr &C
The River Derwent runs from the bottom of this Vast Rock
whose perpendicular height above the Water is 354 feet
Published Dec 1751 by T Smith
Thos Smith ----
J[ames] Mason Sculpt
An idyllic rural scene on the banks of the River Derwent
below High Tor. In the first image, above, a milkmaid is
standing close to the riverside track, with three cows on
her left and probably her milking pail on the ground to her
right. She seems to be talking to a [young] man who is reclining
on the ground near her feet. On the track itself is a stooping
man with a long stick who is walking away from the pair.
He is smoking a pipe whilst leading his donkey. On the far
side of the riverbank, between the cows and the young woman,
is an entrance to a lead mine. Although it is not easy to
see, there is a small house on the hillside on the right
which is surrounded by a stone wall. This was part of the
property that Thomas Brentnall sold to Samuel Bown in 1790[1].
There is a
clearer view of it on Francis Chantrey's 1822 drawing.
The cottage was eventually demolished when Tor Cottage (the
High Tor Hotel) was built.
A second version of this was published in 1776: |
A View of the Rock call'd
Matlock high Tor in Derbyshire (1776). |
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Although both images seem to be from the
same original source, there are several differences between
the two. The milkmaid, the cows and the man she was speaking
to in the 1751 picture have been removed in the second image.
The sheep in the left hand field under the Tor have also
gone. However, in the middle of the same field is something
that could be a place where the lead was smelted.
Yet the landscape and the man with his donkey are identical.
The narrow trackway from Matlock Bridge into Matlock Bath
curves round the right hand side of the river bank, just
above the water's edge.
"Further on .... you come to a
point of bare rock, from which you look down a precipice
of 500 feet absolutely perpendicular ; the river breaking
over fragments of the rocks, soars in a manner that adds
to the subliminity of the scene. The shore of wood is very
noble. From hence, following the edge of the precipice,
you come to another point, from whence you have a double
view of the river beneath, as it were in another region;
to the left the great rock rises from the bottom of a vast
wood in the boldest stile[sic] imaginable" (Beauties,
1776).
Enlargements of parts of the 1776 image
Lead mine entrance.
This adit must have provided access to the southern
continuation of Seven Rakes (High Tor Rake)[2]. |
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Detail, showing the Brentnall property that was sold to the
Bowns. |
Other pages relating to these images:
Images from the same book
as the second image or in other volumes of the work:
Read poems about High Tor on Matlock
and Matlock Bath: Inspiration of Poets
Henry Moore's engraving of High
Tor from his drawing in "Picturesque
Excursions From Derby to Matlock Bath, 1818".
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1. Etching of "High Torr" from the collection of
and © Susan Tomlinson.
2, 3 and 4. A "Copper Plate Cut, neatly engraved" images
published in "A New Display of the Beauties of England:
or, A description of the most elegant or magnificent public
edifices, royal palaces, noblemen's and gentlemen's seats,
and other curiosities, natural or artificial, in different
parts of the kingdom ..." Published London: R. Goadby,
1773, 1774 in 2 vols. The 2nd ed. published 1776. This engraving
from Vol. II. From the collection of and © Ann
Andrews.
Information written and researched by and © Ann Andrews.
Intended for personal use only.
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References:
[1] With thanks to Colin Goodwyn
for his research: "Plot
324 consisted of 20 perches, allocated in Matlock Enclosure
Award of 1874 to Thomas Brentnall, and the adjacent plot
323a was of 10 perches, which was awarded to Samuel Bown.
Brentnall sold his plot to Samuel Bown on 2 February 1790.
The plots are shown on the Award map. This whole area was
known as Common Wood and was part of Matlock common land
being enclosed by that Act".
[2] Also from Colin Goodwyn.
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