| Summary : Stainborough Castle was built between 1727 and 1730 on the site of an alleged iron age hill fort (see SE 30 SW 3) and on the highest point of the Wentworth Castle estate, over 180metres above sea level. Conceived as an eye catcher, the mock castle formed a dramatic climax to the garden layout and is the second oldest Gothick garden structure in the country. It was erected for Sir Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, and is constructed from coursed, dressed sandstone with ashlar dressings. The structure consists of a roughly-circular curtain wall with four square guard towers and a large gatehouse on the east side with an archway originally beneath four circular turrets of which two remain. The 'castle' is important as being the second Gothick folly in England after Lord Bathurst's 'King Alfred's Hall' in Oakley Wood, Cirencester. The towers were supposedly named after the Earl's four children; Anne, Harriet, Lucy and William. The building was already in disrepair by 1755 when John Platt of Rotherham was engaged to rebuild part of the gatehouse |