Hoober Stand is a tower and

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on a ridge in

Wentworth, South Yorkshire __NOTOC__ Wentworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. In the 2001 Census the parish had a population of 1,223, increasing to 1,478 at the 2011 Census. The civil parish include ...

in northern England. It was designed by

Henry Flitcroft Henry Flitcroft (30 August 1697 – 25 February 1769) was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a simple background: his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court and he began as a joiner by t ...

for the Whig aristocrat Thomas Watson-Wentworth, Earl of Malton (later the 1st

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament f ...

) to commemorate the quashing of the

1745 Jacobite rebellion The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...

. It lies close to his country seat

Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. The building has m ...

. Its site is approximately above sea level and from the top there are long-distance views on a clear day. Hoober Stand is one of several

follies ''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...

in and around Wentworth Woodhouse park; the others include Needle's Eye and

Keppel's Column Keppel's Column is a tower Grade II* listed building between Wentworth and Kimberworth in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Keppel's Column is one of several follies in and around Wentworth Woodhouse park; the others include Hoober Stand a ...

Sidney Oldall Addy Sidney Oldall Addy (9 January 1848 – 15 November 1933) was an English author of books on folklore and history. He was born in Norton, Derbyshire, to coal merchant and landowner James Addy and his wife, Sarah. He studied classics at Lincoln Coll ...

, the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

author calls the structure Woburn Stand in his 1888 book, ''A glossary of words used in the neighbourhood of Sheffield.''

History

Thomas Watson-Wentworth (the Earl of Malton and Lord Lieutenant of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

) fought for the British Government against the

1745 Jacobite rising The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took pl ...

. When the rebellion was crushed,

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

elevated the earl to the 1st Marquess of Rockingham (the title Earl of Malton passed to his only surviving son). Watson-Wentworth commissioned architect Henry Flitcroft to design a commemorative monument. Hoober Stand plaque

Construction lasted from 1746 to 1748, and the structure cost £3,000. The inscription above the doorway reads:

"1748
This Pyramidal Building was Erected
by his Majestys most Dutyfull Subject
THOMAS Marquess of Rockingham Etc.
In Grateful Respect to the Preserver of our Religion
Laws and Libertys
KING GEORGE The Second
Who by the blessing of God having Subdued a most Unnatural Rebellion
In Britain Anno 1746
Maintains the Ballance of Power and Settles
A just and Honourable peace in Europe
1748"

Location

Hoober Stand is situated on a high ridge some above sea level in a rural area near Rotherham, and is less than a mile from the village of Wentworth. Vehicular access is along Lea Brook Lane, north of the stand, to a car park next to the monument.

Structure

The tower, an

equilateral triangle In geometry, an equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length. In the familiar Euclidean geometry, an equilateral triangle is also equiangular; that is, all three internal angles are also congruent to each othe ...

with rounded corners in section and about 30 metres tall, is built in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

sandstone. Its three walls are perpendicular to the ground for then taper to a hexagonal cupola surrounded by a triangular viewing platform reached by an internal helical stairway of 150 steps. It is believed that the three walls under the cupola represented England (including Wales), Scotland and Ireland all under one crown. The exterior is very plain but the interior is more decorative. The stairway is lit by five stairway windows and two cupola windows. The wall with the entrance door faces south. This wall has the second and fifth stairway windows (when ascending). On the north west wall the vast majority of the stonework is original. It has the third stairway window. The stand's lightning conductor runs down this wall. The north east wall has the first and fourth stairway windows. At the top of the tower is the hexagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

with a domed roof. It is surrounded by a triangular iron-railed viewing platform. Three of the cupola walls containing the door and windows are parallel to the tower walls. The door leads out onto the viewing platform. The platform is in the form of an equilateral triangle, with edges parallel to the south cupola wall and the windowed (north west and north east) cupola walls. The platform corners are adjacent to the cupola's three windowless (north, south east and south west) walls. Each corner has a decorative stone hexagonal-topped pedestal. The inward taper of the upper part of the three walls causes an optical illusion that the stand is falling over. The cupola, although situated over the centre of the building, appears to move from side to side as the tower is approached from different angles.

References

External links

Wentworth Village — Hoober Stand

{{coord, 53.48203, -1.38751, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Towers completed in 1748 Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Folly towers in England Observation towers in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in South Yorkshire Towers in South Yorkshire Wentworth, South Yorkshire

History

Location

Structure

See also

References

External links