Derbyshire Dales District Council's Local Projects Fund has enabled a group of local residents, supported by Matlock in Bloom and the town's Civic Association, to reinstate a garden on the site of an historic landmark.
Victoria Hall Gardens, above Smedley Street East, Matlock, was where the Victoria Hall Leisure Complex stood from 1896 to 1912 at a time when the town was famed as a "metropolis of hydropathy", attracting tourists on a massive scale.
From 1914-89 the building became Derwent Woollen Mills before its demolition to make way for the Victoria Hall Gardens housing development.
Two years ago, a group of residents, supported by Matlock in Bloom, began work to clear and reinstate the site, which is owned by the District Council, and they successfully applied for cash from the council's Local Projects Fund, which supports schemes that benefit local communities.
Now shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs have been planted to fill the gaps created by the clearance of weeds and scrub growth from the historic site.
On Wednesday, the Chairman of the District of the Derbyshire Dales, Councillor Steve Flitter, officially unveiled a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the Gardens, which include benches and a vista of the town and the Riber hillside.
