Mow Cop Castle is a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

at Mow Cop in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Odd Rode Odd Rode is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It borders the Staffordshire parish of Kidsgrove. Of particular note in the area is Rode Hall, seat of the Wilbraham family. ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. It is designated as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

. The ridge, upon which the castle sits, forms the boundary between the counties of

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, the dioceses of Chester and Lichfield and the ecclesiastical provinces of Canterbury and York.

History

Built by Randle Wilbraham in 1754 as a folly (a decorative structure), it was designed to resemble medieval ruins. Wilbraham of nearby Rode Hall constructed the elaborate summerhouse and circular tower to look like medieval fortress ruins from the start, so its current state aligns with its intended aesthetic. The area around the castle was nationally famous for the quarrying of high-quality millstones (' querns') for use in water mills. Excavations at Mow Cop have found querns dating back to the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. Traces of a prehistoric camp have also been found here. The Castle was given to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

in 1937. That same year over ten thousand Methodists met on the hill to commemorate the first Primitive Methodist camp which met there in 1807. At the turn of the millennium, on New Year's Eve 1999, Mow Cop was a location for one of the hundreds of flaming beacons across the UK that were lit to welcome the new century. Though visitors were originally allowed inside the tower of the folly, access is now prevented by a locked metal gate, which still allows views inside the folly. Mow Cop and its folly are central images in

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

's novel ''

Red Shift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and increase in frequency and e ...

''.

References

External links

History of Mow Cop
{{coord, 53.1130, -2.2143, type:landmark_region:GB-STS, display=title National Trust properties in Cheshire Tourist attractions in Cheshire Tourist attractions of the Peak District Folly castles in England Ruins in Cheshire Folly buildings in England Grade II listed buildings in Staffordshire

History

See also

References

External links