Description: Riber dominates the country side around Matlock. It is perched on a hill 260 metres (850 feet) above sea level, which is about 200 metres (600 feet) above Matlock. It looks forbidding. Indeed, it would not look out of place in a horror movie. It was designed and built by John Smedley in 1862 as his residence. The Gritstone for the building came from a local quarry and was carted up hill by a series of pulleys. Smedley employed skilled craftsmen. Plasterers, for example, came from Italy to work on the Castle. There was electricity and gas, plus a deep well for water. The Castle's salon was vast. The castle remained derelict for many years until, in the 1960s, a group of zoologists set up a Nature Reserve for British and European Fauna. This Nature Reserve is no longer open to the public as it closed in September 2000. (extracted from www.derbyshireguide.co.uk) I'd like to order copy(ies)