Riber Castle and Zoo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Riber Castle is situated in the hamlet of Riber on a hill overlooking Matlock, Derbyshire. It was built by John Smedley in 1862 as his private home.

It is currently in disrepair, although there are plans to turn the shell into apartments which received planning consent in early 2006.

It is built of gritstone from a local quarry (Derbyshire is well-known for its quarrying) which was pulled up the 200-metre hill by a series of pulleys.

From the 1960s to September 2000 it was home to a wildlife park which included exhibits of British and European fauna. "Riber Zoo", as it was known, eventually shut due to much criticism of the conditions of the animals it was housing.

The castle, and the town of Matlock featured strongly in the Shane Meadows film Dead Man's Shoes.