Rowsley

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The Peacock Hotel

[edit] Rowsley Settlement

Rowsley is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire.

It is at the point where the River Wye flows into the River Derwent and prospered from mills on both.

Notable features are the bridge over the River Derwent and the Peacock Hotel , originally built in 1652 as a manor house by John Stevenson, agent to Lady Manners, whose family crest bearing a peacock gives it its name. Both Longfellow and Landseer are said to have stayed there. Nearby is Chatsworth House home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

It was the site of an extensive motive power depot and marshalling yard, the first being built by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway with a railway station designed by Joseph Paxton in 1849. This was replaced by a new station when the line was extended northwards in 1862. It was frequently used by King Edward VII when he visited Chatsworth House. The original station became a goods depot until 1968 when it was used as a contractor's yard. It then became the centrepiece of a shopping development.

[edit] Rowsley South

Rowsley South is the northern terminus of the preserved railway Peak Rail, and is located about a quarter-mile south of the village itself. Running for a length of five miles between Rowsley and Matlock, it is projected that the heritage railway will run into Rowsley proper in the near future. In the long term, the A6 presents the greatest challenge to the organisation, as it requiring a new bridge to be built over it in order to reach the viaduct crossing the River Derwent and thence the trackbed that runs through the Duke of Rutland's estate to Bakewell.