Above is an enlargement of part of a postcard called "Wooded Slopes, Matlock Bath". It shows Waterloo Road zigzagging up the hillside to the Round House and the junction with Holme Road, Masson Road and Upperwood Road. The large dwelling on the left is Wellington House and behind it is a small cottage that belonged to Belle Vue House. Around the bend is a property that is half hidden from view. This was Swiss Cottage, so named because it resembled a Swiss chalet.

The castellated Gothic building is the Lower Tower. It had been the home of Colonel Edward Payne in the 1820s^[1] and at the time it was known as The Tower; the Upper Tower on the Heights of Abraham had not yet been built. At the beginning of the 1840s Mrs. William Cumming and her sister Miss Hall used the property as an "Establishment for the Education of Young Ladies^[2]". Robert Chadwick and his family were living there in 1860 and the house was occupied by the Chadwicks until the early 1950s^[3].

The whole image is shown below. The Upper Tower is the building high up on the slopes that is surrounded by woodland. Mrs. Chadwick's brother, Samuel Sprinthall, lived at the Upper Tower for a many years and leased the Heights of Abraham from his sister and her family.

References (coloured links are to transcripts or more information elsewhere on this web site):

^[1] "The Derby Mercury", Wednesday, 24 January, 1827. Sale of household goods by Edward Payne, The Tower.
Glover's Directory, 1827/8/9 also tells us he was there. Payne clearly liked Gothic buildings as another property of his, Ivy Cottage in Matlock Dale, was also described as castellated. Ivy Cottage was replaced by The Rocks.

^[2] "The Derby Mercury", Wednesday, 7 July, 1841

^[3] The Chadwicks, who also had a long association with the Heights of Abraham, are recorded in the census returns from 1861 onwards (see the 1861 census entry). They advertised in nineteenth century directories and twentieth century directories.