Description: There was a time when small children and adults alike flocked to see the wonders created by water dripping onto a variety of objects and changing them into stone. The 'Royal' (or 'Great') Petrifying Well was run by the Smith family of Matlock Bath, who had a Spar (fluorspar) and Marble Works. They ran the shop opposite the well, which sold items made from Blue John and other local stone. The admission charge to the Petrifying Well was, for quite a while, 'One Penny'. (information from www.andrewspages.dial.pipex.com). The road was subsquently widened, the well modernised and taken further back towards the river. The well in no longer open but petrified objects can still be seen in the Aquarium.