Overview

The Peak District Lead Mining Museum is situated in the picturesque Victorian spa resort of Matlock Bath. Baths fed by the natural thermal waters attracted Victorian and Edwardian visitors to the village. Its other attractions, including petrifying wells and show caverns, added to Matlock Bath’s popularity. Although the petrifying wells and some of the caverns are no longer available to view today, there is still much to see and do in Matlock Bath.

Matlock Bath is on the edge of the Peak District National Park. If you are planning to stay in the area you will find plenty of beautiful villages and landscapes to visit. The area is ideal for anyone looking to spend time outdoors. As lead mining has shaped the landscape of the Peak District for thousands of years, a visit to the Museum will add interest to many other places that you might visit in the area. Temple Mine will give you an insight into the underground workings that exist all over the Peak District. These are now often invisible on the surface, but can sometimes be spotted from the buildings and overgrown spoil-heaps that remain .

Industrial Heritage

For anyone with an interest in industrial heritage, there are many other sites to visit close to the Peak District Lead Mining Museum. The Museum is just on the edge of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, which contains a number of mills once powered by the River Derwent. For more information see www.derwentvalleymills.org

Arkwright’s Mill at Cromford is only a mile from the museum. The village and the canal at Cromford, built to serve the cotton mills are also well worth exploring. See www.arkwrightsociety.org.uk for more information.