Description: Oldham House Hydro. Established 1890. The notice on the wall on the left advertises an event at the Primitive Methodist School, Matlock and is dated February 1906. Sometime proprietors, Mr and Mrs Wildgoose. One of many hydropathic establishments on Matlock Bank in the later Victorian and Edwardian period when such treatments were fashionable. The largest was Smedley's Hydro which offered comprehensive water treatments. Many of the smaller establishments were simply hotels. Oldham House was later used by Matlock College of Education. This image looks as though it may be a photograph of a postcard. It bears a serial number, 41170, but no publishers name is apparent. Now, a century later, many of these buildings are finding a new lease of life, as apartments for single people.