Keep Riber Rural

Welcome to the Riber Village web site.

The Riber Heritage Trust has been founded to

preserve for the benefit of the people of Derbyshire and of the Nation, the historical, architectural, natural and constructional heritage of Riber Castle and the settlement of Riber

and to educate the public about Riber Castle and the life and work of John Smedley and other Victorian entrepreneurs involved in the development of ideas, industries and the built environment in and around the Parish of Matlock.

Download the full Memorandum and Articles of Association of Riber Heritage Trust (PDF 998KB)

The Keep Riber Rural campaign has produced two reports for the Planning Committee. The first is titled "The Future of Riber" and is concerned with why the current planning application is not the right solution and argues the case for refusing this application.
Download it here. The Future of Riber report 1 (PDF 998KB)

The second report focuses on alternatives to a commercial housing development giving several ideas for a sustainable, public access solution with some details of how these may be funded

This tiny rural hamlet is situated on top a hill overlooking the town of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales just outside the Peak District National Park. At present there are 19 houses in the hamlet and a small number of outlying farms. We also have a castle!

The location and the history will be covered in more detail as well as special events such as the well dressings.

For the moment the main thrust of this site is to campaign against a plan to turn the castle into flats and to build houses in and around the Castle grounds. We believe that this is a wholly inappropriate development. It will more than treble the size of the village which will swamp this unique ancient hamlet, ruin conservation area and destroy the character and charm of the area for both local people and visitors alike.