Keppel's Column

Keppel's Column
Yorkshire West Riding
Keppel's Column
Type:	Folly
Location
Grid reference:	SK3894194731
Location:	53°26’53"N, 1°24’55"W
Village:	Wentworth
History
	Built 1773-1780
By:	John Carr
	Folly
Information

Keppel's Column is a 115-foot Grade-II*-listed tower between Wentworth and Kimberworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Keppel's Column is one of several follies in and around Wentworth Woodhouse park; the others include Hoober Stand and Needle's Eye.

History

The column was built in the late-18th century to commemorate the acquittal of the court-martialled Admiral Augustus Keppel after the Battle of Ushant. It was commissioned in 1773 by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham and designed by John Carr. The column was finished in 1780. It was initially intended to be a landscape feature composed of pedestal surmounted by obelisk, though at some stage the design was eventually changed to a tall column.

Structure

It visibly bulges due to an entasis correction, which was rendered inappropriate when funding problems reduced the height. The column, which has an internal spiral staircase, is located on a prominent hill on the southern extent of the Wentworth Estates. The hill is more than 480ft above mean sea level and is one of the highest hills in the area, second only to the hill on which Hoober Stand is located.

Keppel's Column has been closed to the public since the 1960s due to being unsafe, as it is now in a derelict state. The column can be viewed at close quarters from the public footpath running from Admiral's Crest in Scholes.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Keppel's Column)

• http://www.holisticfraternity.co.uk/Keppels.html