Monument record MDR9873 - Hurt's Wharf, Cromford Canal, Whatstandwell, Crich

Eden House at Whatstandwell is built directly over the short railway tunnel. In 1811 the house was part of Hurt's wharf, and it is thought that the owner refused to allow it to be knocked down when the railway was built, so the railway tunnelled under instead. Hurt was the Squire of Alderwasley, and also the proprietor of the iron forge between here and Ambergate by the River Derwent. The tithe map of 1841 shows a wharf here at Whatstandwell on the opposite, northern side of the canal to Eden House. (1) Canal wharf built in 1794 for Hurt, alongside the Cromford Canal at the junction of the Wirksworth to Alfreton Turnpike, not only for the interchange of goods from the road, but also to serve the gritstone quarries to the north. At this point the canal is very close to the river, so when the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock & Midland Junction Railway was built in 1849, a shallow tunnel was built to take the railway under the wharf. The arch structure is supported by a substantial dressed stone retaining wall. The latter is also part of the cottages at the north end of the tunnel. (2)