The two houses on the left are almost opposite the colour works bridge on Dale Road which is on the right, out of the shot
just around the bend in the road. In 1868 both properties were for sale[1],
advertised by Mr. F. W. Stevens[2] who was one of the owners of the colour works.
Tor House or Tor Villa as it was called in 1861 (as opposed to Tor Cottage further down the Dale) was the stone built house in the middle
of the picture, set back from the road and reached by a drive; it had over 2 acres of ground. This was the home of the Stevens
family. Thomas Robinson had built Tor House and the coach house in the early 1830s[3].
The three storey property nearer to the cameraman, at the entrance to the Tor House drive and next to the road,
was "the coach house". Underneath, at road level, were stables and a coach house[1].
These are partly obscured in the picture by the open carriage driving down the road. It looks as if the driver is standing
up, perhaps asking some of the passers-by if they want to be taken somewhere. Matlock Bath's surgeon, Dr.
Joseph Adam, lived in here in the late 1860s[1]. He had
been in Matlock Bath since the mid 1840s[4] and died in Matlock Dale in 1871.
His obituary described him as a "talented physician" and amongst the mourners at his funeral at Holy Trinity
Church were Robert Chadwick, Esq., F. W. Stevens, Esq. and the Rev. R. P. Pelley, Vicar of Matlock Bath as well as Dr. Webb
of Wirksworth[5].
Whilst the upper floors of the nearer house fell victim to the 1966 landslip and were demolished, the stables
and coach house underneath the property are still in the Dale today.
See Tor Hill House, Dale Road, Matlock Bath, 1915, formerly Tor House.
Thomas Robinson's home.
Enlargement of left hand image
 A later view of this part of the Dale can be seen in the "Just" Dale images.
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