B  o  s  t  o  n    C  a  s  t  l  e

     Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :- Richard Cutts of Bolton.

Boston Castle cannot lay claim to being a true folly, but it falls into that grey area of 'almost' being one. Follies are basically expensive little whims, without any real purpose, that landowners created so as to put their mark on the landscape. This particular folly fulfils almost all those criteria, but the one it cannot meet is 'having no purpose', even though its use was probably occasional.
Boston Castle was actually built as a hunting lodge for Thomas 3rd Earl of Effingham who reigned supreme over his domain until 1791, when he died at the young age, for his social class at least, of 44. It was in 1775 that the castle first appeared on the skyline, proudly overlooking the valley below, but today things have changed. Whilst the height of its location at 300 foot remains the same, the proud look has been swapped for a sad expression of neglect.
The grandiose name of Boston Castle that the Earl gave it, came about because he was making a political statement regarding the recent event of, what came to be known as, the 'Boston Tea Party' in America.

The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16th 1773, when a group calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, led by a Samuel Adam, dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbour. This was the result of the East India Company being allowed to ship half a million pounds of tea to the American colony without the usual taxes being imposed. The East India Company was nearly bankrupt at the time, and the British government had given them this privilege in an effort to try and ease the company's financial problems. The government had not taken into account however the hardship that this would cause in the colony, as the tea would obviously sell much cheaper than the existing tea from American tea merchants.
When the American war of Independence started shortly after, the Earl felt so strongly on the whole subject that he resigned his commission with the army.

Because of these events it is said that the Earl banned the drinking of tea in the hunting lodge!
After having spent the morning in the saddle hunting, and then making the climb up to the lodge, one can only imagine the disappointment that the men must have felt when being told that tea was off the menu.

Later when the valley became a public park in 1876, the lodge then became home to the resident park keeper.
The future of the lodge is now undecided though, but no doubt money will feature in what ever decision is taken. Talk of a local information centre was in the air at one time, though at present it looks like nothing has happened, except maybe that the building looks, and feels, sorrier for itself as each day goes by.

     Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :- Richard Cutts of Bolton.

You can appreciate the choice of location chosen for users of the lodge as it provided a perfect view of the valley over 300 foot below.

Co-Ords: 443000 391600 / SK 429915   

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