The Grand Pavilion
Matlock Bath
DE4 3NR
History
The Grand Pavilion was built by architect John Nuttall during Edwardian times in 1910 costing £11,000, it was built on the site of an old stables and blacksmiths yard and sits on the bank of the river Derwent.
The Pavilion was built so that the already growing number of tourists to Matlock Bath had somewhere to go if they wanted some sort of entertainment whether that be to take in a theatre show or to roller skate or even just somewhere to go and have afternoon tea.
But during the first world war the pavilion was used as a billet for soldiers, one of the soldiers was that of a Canadian soldier William J Cowan who was recovering after being injured, William made a full recovery and lived his life to the fullest and later on became a writer and director in Hollywood one of the films he directed was the 1933 Oliver Twist.
Over the years the Grand Pavilion has seen many performers including names such as Ken Dodd, Warren Mitchell (played Alf Garnett), Mike Reid, Elvis Costello and Long John Baldry with his pianist Reginald Dwight (Reginald goes by a different name now, Sir Elton John).
Unfortunately the years haven’t been kind to the pavilion with one struggle after another so it was decided that the ballroom would be changed into a night club and it remained so up until 2008.
Since the nightclubs closure a group called ‘save the pavilion group’ was set up by local residents to help prevent the building being ‘disposed’ of. The group managed to set up successful event and rent out rooms to different groups of users to raise funds to help renovate the upper levels.
On the first floor of the Pavilion is where the Peak District Lead Mining Museum is situated. There has never been a mine on the site but it does hold original tools and machinery that would have been used in the mines (who knows who or what might be attached to these items).
Reported Activity
Children have been heard throughout the building.
Shadowy figure of a lady has been seen.
Poltergeist activity such as things being moved and thrown.
Partial apparition has been seen.
Whistling, footsteps, laughter and cold spots have all been witnessed.
