MATLOCK  , a

market town in the western parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, on the river Derwent, 17 M . N. by W. of Derby on the Midland railway . Pop . (1901), of urban district of Matlock, 5979; of Matlock Bath and Scarthin Nick, 1819 . The entire township includes the old village of Matlock, the commercial and manufacturing district of Matlock Bridge, and the fashionable health resorts of Matlock Bath and Matlock Bank . The town possesses cotton, corn and paper mills, while in the vicinity there are stone-quarries and lead mines . A peculiar local industry is the manufacture of so-called " petrified " birds' nests, plants, and other objects . These are steeped in water from the mineral springs until they become encrusted with a calcareous deposit which gives them the appearance of fossils . Ornaments fashioned out of spar and stalactites have also a considerable sale .