36 listed buildings, 4 of them Grade II*

Matlock Bridge (Over River Derwent)Grade II* listedSt Andrew's HouseGrade II* listedMatlock MillGrade II listedFormer King's Head InnGrade II listedFormer Smedley's Hydropathic (County Council Offices)Grade II listed+6See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

1827

c. 1890

c. 1890

c. 1890

c. 1905

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).

Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

The first 6 entries were listed in 1950. 21 came in 1972, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

World Heritage

2 scheduled monuments

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.

Lumsdale Mills and associated water management features

Matlock Bridge

Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.

23% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1955–64, which added 12% of today’s homes.

Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties by build period, 31 March 2025, for the neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up the town, split by where their residents live. Homes with no recorded build period (48 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.

John Cawood

Joseph George Cumming

Joseph Bower Siddall

Arthur Dixon

Percy Barrett

175017751800182518501875190019251950

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Arthur Dixon1867–1933 · English footballer, born 1867

Joseph George Cumming1812–1868 · British geologist and archaeologist (1812-1868)

JC

John Cawood1775–1852 · English clergyman and hymnwriter (1775-1852)

JS

Joseph Bower Siddall1840–1925 · English doctor (1840-1925)

Percy Barrett1881–1927 · Golfer (1881-1927)

Everyone born in Matlock → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Old houses are part of Matlock’s character: 26% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 36 listed buildings, including Matlock Bridge. Its older streets lie in 5 conservation areas, the first designated in 1972. Most entries on the list, 64%, are houses, terraces and villas.

Of the 5 people born here before 1900, the best known include Arthur Dixon (1867), Joseph George Cumming (1812) and John Cawood (1775). The big year was 1972, when 21 of the 36 went on the list. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and it also has 2 scheduled monuments.