RIBER CASTLE

Derbyshire

Riber Castle is another of Derbyshire's impressively situated follies.  It stands high above Matlock Bath and today houses a "Wild Animal Park", i.e. a small zoo.

The drive up to the Castle is not for the faint-hearted, but its black silhouette on the hill is a draw hard to resist.  The Castle was constructed around 1862-1868 by John Smedley.  He was a local industrialist, famed for the good care he took of his workers.  His initial plan was to build a 225 foot tower here, but he abandoned this plan when he found the telescopes he intended to order for the tower wouldn't fit into it.

The Castle cost Smedley £60,000 but he died six years after its construction.  The Castle later became a school but by the 1930s was a derelict shell, which it still is today, although work is slowly been done to make it safe.

The wildlife park is open all year around.

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2001