The former Smedley hydrotherapy spa hotel – England - Atlas Obscura

The former Smedley hydrotherapy spa hotel

The largest former spa hotel in Matlock allows the public to get a glimpse of its opulent past. 

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The very steep area of largely Victorian  buildings  to the north of Matlock known as Matlock Bank is scattered with blue heritage plaques, commemorating former  “hydro hotels” where it was popular to take the “water cure”(making use of the thermal springs arising on Matlock Bank), but all have now been repurposed. They are not open to the general public except for parts of the first and largest of them (established 1853). It was established by John Smedley (said to be the champion of hydrotherapy in England).

It became the Derbyshire  County Council (DCC)  headquarters in 1956 and some of the former Smedley hydro features are still accessible, including both  opulent  interior  public features  and to several impressive external  areas. During WW2 the building  had been used as a school for military  intelligence operatives and after the war had, unsuccessfully,  tried to operate again as a hotel. The fashions had simply changed.

After Smedley’s death in 1874 the hotel both expanded enormously  and changed its ethos from an institution which aimed at providing hydrotherapy treatment to the majority of the population to an institution which was essentially a luxury  hotel  which also provided a range of hydrotherapy treatments in addition to an opulent environment  both inside and out. In 1901 the large northern block was constructed and linked to the southern block by a couple of unusual  two-floor “skyway” type bridges to join the two large blocks.

Notable remaining interior features include the fine carved staircase near the DCC reception desk and the balustrades at each floor, surrounding  the light well above the reception desk. The stained glass window on the 1886 staircase commemorates  the life of Smedley. Carved woodwork  above many of the doors and the ceilings of both the council chamber and the member’s room are worth seeing and there is a fine granite drinking water fountain dating from the days of the hydro hotel.

On the outside are some fine building facades and an enormous (and very impressive)  conservatory type building called  “The Winter Gardens”. This was used for dances, social events etc but in 2013 it was badly damaged by a leak from a broken water main. Some rather attractive covered shelters can be found in what used to be the hydro’s extensive formal garden.

Know Before You Go

Parking in the Derbyshire County Council Offices car park is free but hard to find a space at times.


Apart from being mentioned on a blue plaque there seems to be no evidence of the building being used as a spy school in WW2.


Just uphill from the Smedley hydro at the junction  of Wellington  Street and Rutland Street is the, impressive,  former Rockside Hydro (along with the blue plaque) which, in 1939, was converted to a psychiatric  hospital for battle-fatigued RAF aircrew which the locals refered to, unkindly, as Hatter's Castle. After WW2 it became Matlock  College of Education  which closed in 1988. In the 1970's the place was well known for its wild student parties.