Potential buyers lined up for famous Derbyshire castle hotel after sudden closure

Willersley Castle Hotel, in Cromford, closed suddenly earlier this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Owners Methodist Guild Holidays Ltd said it had held ‘an essential review of the business’ before taking the ‘difficult decision’ that the hotel will not reopen and is to be sold.

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The company said this week that it is currently ‘liaising with interested buyers’ and says there could be developments next month.

Managing director Nicola Firth previously said the company had been ‘saddened that the future of the hotel could not be rescued’.

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Bosses undertook a consultation period with the 33 hotel employees affected.

The Grade II* listed structure was built for the great industrialist, Sir Richard Arkwright, at the end of the 18th Century, and overlooks the River Derwent and Matlock Bath.

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