Woodland House, on Derby Road, was one of several Matlock Bath properties that fell victim to the bulldozer; it was demolished as part road widening scheme of the 1960s and early 1970s^[1]. So were other houses nearby, including those on the other side of the approach to the New Bath Hotel. These days several of them would have been listed.

Of all the people who lived at Woodland House, two surnames stand out from the rest.

The first name is is that of Saxton as Woodland House became the home of George Withers Saxton when he left the New Bath Hotel about 1855^[2]. He died at Woodland House in January 1862^[3], and his sisters continued to live there for some years afterwards^[4]. When, in 1879, Miss Saxton decided that she wanted to live abroad, the house and its contents were sold. The property was described at the time as "a commodious detached freehold residence ... now in the occupation of Miss Saxton, having a frontage to the main road leading on to Cromford, and adjoining the grounds of the New Bath Hotel. The house has four principal rooms on the ground floor, basement kitchens and cellars, and ten bedrooms, closets, &c. The ... property, in size and situation, is well adapted for the accommodation of visitors"^[5].

Five years later Woodland House was again being advertised to be either let or sold and was considered suitable accommodation for either a gentleman's family, for apartments letting, or for use as a private hotel^[6]. In 1885, another sale notice described the garden as being "planted with taste and judgement, and is also adorned with ferns and plants of great beauty"^[7]. In 1896 it was owned by Mr Charles Hill, J.P,. of Woodborough Hall, Notts^[7].

The second surname of note, and one that had a fairly long association with the property, is Hoyland. In the 1950s and 60s the building was known locally as "Hoyland's Flats". The first of the family to live there was Maria Fretwell Hoyland (née Frost) who moved in either just before or shortly after after her husband Francis died in 1920^[9]. She was succeeded by her son Francis^[10]. The last of the family to make it their home was Mrs. Hoyland who lived in the basement flat with Miss Cawood, and who was still living with her when she died^[11]. Another person who had a room a "Hoylands" was Miss Webb, a teacher at Matlock Bath school. This meant that a member of staff could be present even when the roads were impassable to vehicles.