Matlock and Matlock Bath Images: Matlock: Riber Hall

Henry Hadfield Cubley's painting of Riber Hall, perhaps with a red sky at night for good luck or possibly because it was attractive. It shows the lovely sixteenth century hall and the semi circular steps that are a feature of the building. The house has low mullioned windows and gables.

"More gracious [than the castle] is the Elizabethan hall, with the charm of the gabled roof and mullioned windows, with a stone gateway in the balustraded wall, its round steps jutting on the wayside. It has long been the home of the Wolleys^[1]".

The last Wolley to live there sold the property in 1668 and in 1724 it was split into two. Ninetenth century occupants included George Allen^[2], John Smedley^[2] and Jane and John Wall.Outrams^[4].

One of the Wolley family, who died in 1719, wrote a "History of Derbyshire". He described the house as "pleasantly situated, having a large prospect over the moors into Scarsdale and is also very convenient for game, there being great store in the neighbouring parts^[5]".

Printer's error in caption - reads River Hall, but there is no such place in the Matlocks
Raphael Tuck & Sons "Oilette" [Regd.] Postcard 1683. Art Publishers to their Majesties the King & Queen. "Picturesque Derbyshire", Printed in England. Message side of card has Royal arms top left corner. Not used, so no date but most postcards of his paintings date from the beginning of the twentieth century. However, this card has no message bar on the front so post dates most of the other cards in my collection. It dates, therefore, from after 1904.
Postcard in the collection of, provided by and © Ann Andrews Intended for personal use only

References (coloured hyperlinks for onsite transcripts):

^[1] Mee, Arthur (ed.) (1937) "Derbyshire: The Peak Country",The King's England Series, Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London
^[2] See Riber Hall engraving for more details
^[3] The Walls were listed at the address in 1901 census and Jane and John Wall's gravestone in St. Giles' churchyard is the only stone to give the address as Riber Hall. Their daughter, Sarah, was listed as living at Riber Hall in Kelly's 1908 Directory
^[4] The Outrams were living at Riber in the 1881 census | 1891 census | 1901 census. They were later given as living at Riber Hall Farm in Kelly's 1908 Directory | Kelly's 1916 Directory
^[5] Glover, Catherine and Riden, Philip (edited by) (1981) "William Woolley's History of Derbyshire" Derbyshire Record Society Volume VI, p.200.

More on site information about the WOLLEY family

Wolley Manuscripts Derbyshire A major collection of pre 1828 documents.

The Wolley Manuscripts, Matlock The Matlock manuscripts are more detailed and contain a series of documents relating specifically to the WOLLEY family

Hatches, Matches & Dispatches Find the WOLLEY family in Matlock's parish registers

Coat of Arms: Description of WOLLEY arms