Tucked away in a corner of the gardens of Wentworth Castle near Barnsley is an elaborate folly that reflects the vanity of the 18th-century English gentry.
Having failed to inherit the nearby mansion Wentworth Woodhouse as he had expected, Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (who would later become the 1st Earl of Strafford), purchased a nearby estate. He then set out to construct a house to rival the one he so clearly coveted.
On the footprint of a 17th-century building by Sir Gervase Cutler, he created a large residence to compete with that of his distant relative, Thomas Watson, whom he considered had usurped his birthright.
This house now forms the basis of Northern College, an educational institution focused on courses with a social purpose and close links to the trade union movement.
Between 1727 and 1731, Wentworth added a magnificent folly in the form of a castle ruin to the gardens of his new house, so he could justify adopting the name Wentworth Castle for the estate and one-up his social rival. Despite his efforts, renovations at Wentworth Woodhouse ensured that Wentworth Castle was always second best. The folly itself became known as Stainborough Castle.
Today, the gardens are owned and operated by the National Trust, and visitors can explore the folly, which looks remarkably like the ruins of a medieval castle. Once inside, however, everything seems a little smaller than it should be. Yet it is not so small that it could not have been a genuine defensive structure, creating a rather disconcerting effect.
The “castle” is an enchanting space, surrounded by magnificent gardens and parkland worth visiting in their own right. In one of the large conservatories is a lead statue of an enslaved African man, installed to mark Wentworth’s role in maintaining Britain’s slave-trading interests in the Treaty of Utrecht. In recent years, the statue has become controversial, and the accompanying information now recognizes the dark side of the wealth that created the estate we see today.