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What a difference a century makes! The houses on the left are still the same but have obviously been renovated and painted and now appear to be very up-market. A pavement has been created on the right and, amazingly, the huge tree on the left, is still going strong.

Initially, it appears from the second picture that the beautiful building on the right was demolished to make way for a block of flats.

However the building is, in fact, still there, though obscured by the flats erected in the grounds in front of the building.

It was the former St Matthew’s village school and is currently occupied by an architect’s offices.

Ewen McWilliam, of Ashbourne, who used to live in the headmaster’s house in Bank View Road, said: “When the flats were built in front of the school, they caused quite a stir. Darley Abbey was almost like a gated village at one time. Walter Evans, who owned the local mill, did not like drinking so there was no pub in the village.

“Further along, beyond the school, on the left, there used to be an old village lock-up but it has since been demolished. The school closed about 30 years ago when the new Walter Evans School opened.”

Bernard Butcher, of Allestree, added: “It must have been quite a school as there was accommodation at each end for teachers and the classrooms were in the middle.”

• Derbyshire then and now

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County:  Derbyshire

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