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The county of Yorkshire is dominated by two very different folly collections which, and not by coincidence, are located within a short distance of one another. Wentworth Castle, the westerly estate of the two, came about solely as a result of who became, or more importantly who did not become, the main benefactor of the other estate, Wentworth Woodhouse. The latter had been home to the 2nd Earl of Strafford, William Wentworth, who despite two marriages had no heir at the time of his death in 1695.

The Feud
Thomas Wentworth, who was the next of kin, naturally expected to be the sole benefactor, however it was left to Thomas's cousin, the deceased Earl's nephew, Thomas Watson instead.
All of the titles that the Earl of Strafford held, bar the Barony of Raby, became extinct on his death, so Thomas Wentworth having missed out on his inheritance, only managed to secure the title of Lord Raby.
So a rather bitter Thomas Wentworth, with his new title but little else by way of the inheritance, could only sit back and witness events, as a rather lucky Thomas Watson settled into his newly acquired estate of Wentworth Woodhouse. As soon as Thomas Watson was resident in his new estate, and to confuse matters more it would seem, he then changes his family name to that of Thomas Watson-Wentworth.

Stainborough Estate
Lord Raby, as I shall call him to avoid confusion over the name issue, was not a man to take defeat, so when the Stainborough Estate came up for sale in 1708 for the princely sum of £14,000 he snapped it up. Its location some 8 miles to the west of what he considered his rightful home and lost inheritance was most likely a deciding factor. Even if Lord Raby had inherited his expected estate at Wentworth Woodhouse, he would not have become the 3rd Earl of Strafford however, as he was not the deceased Earl's son, but having now acquired an estate he was determined to gain a better title than just a plain old Lord. So Raby then proceeded to ingratiate himself with the monarch, Queen Anne, and this determination eventually paid off as he became the 1st Earl of Strafford, of the second creation in 1711.
Lord Raby's (now the Earl of Strafford) feud with Watson-Wentworth only finally came to an end when the Earl died in 1739.
The first folly constructed on the Stainborough Estate, as it was still called, was a mock castle built on the remains of a hill fort. When this was built the estate's name was changed to the some what pretentious 'Wentworth Castle'.
The majority of the remaining follies, were of a smaller undertaking and were mostly built after the Earl's death.

Wentworth Castle Follies                  
(Earls of Strafford)

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Wentworth Woodhouse estate
The follies here are less numerous but they are much larger. They are also closer to what is considered to be the general idea of a folly, unlike the Wentworth Castle (formally Stainborough Estate) follies that come closer to, in some instances, garden design. This collection also has the advantage that they are all freely accessible for viewing, and in some cases access.
Thomas Watson-Wentworth not only inherited the Wentworth Woodhouse estate in 1695 from his maternal uncle, but also inherited his fathers estate in 1723, which then made him one of the wealthiest men in the country. This fact, combined with his military service, helped him in his elevation to the title of the Marquess of Rockingham, in 1746.
Sadly he was not to enjoy this title for long though, as he died just 4 years later, but not before he had the delightful and unusual Hoober Stand built in 1748. The other big follies of the collection, Keppel's column and the mausoleum, were to appear after the 1st Marquess's death, while the Needles Eye date of construction is somewhat uncertain.

Wentworth Woodhouse Follies          
(Lord Rockingham)

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