Today it is easy to drive on the main roads through Matlock Bath or Matlock Bank without seeing Old Matlock, centred on St Giles Church and the handful of stone houses around it. But seen from Hall Leys park, the church is in a remarkable position, on top of a steep cliff, bounded by the Derwent on one side and the Bentley Brook on the other. Most of the church was rebuilt in the mid-nineteenth century, although the font is Norman. Yet it seems likely that this site has had some sacred significance since pre-Christian times, given the watery surroundings.

The road from here through Starkholmes and down to Cromford bridge is an old route, and the only road out of Matlock that was never turnpiked, and so remained toll-free. But another ancient way appears to run down Pic Tor Lane, past the old vicarage and under the railway bridge to the river. At this point there is geological evidence of a possible ford, and the route would have gone up Masson Hill along what is now St John’s Road and joined up with Salter’s Lane, which came via Leek and Hartington.

The current Matlock bridge dates from the fourteenth century, but the position of the church supports the theory that the earlier crossing could have been here, further downstream. The significance of this route is further reinforced by the construction of the railway bridge and the pedestrian river bridge in the mid-nineteenth century, suggesting that this route was then seen as worth maintaining.