Castle Map

Castle

Midford Castle

England · 18th century

Founded
1775
Style
Gothic architecture
Architect
John Carter
Heritage status
Grade I listed building
Location
Southstoke
Coordinates
51.3505°, -2.34665°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Midford Castle in England
Photo: chris hayes · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Midford Castle is a folly castle in the village of Midford, and the parish of Southstoke 3 miles (5 km) south of Bath, Somerset, England.

The castle was built in 1775 for Henry Disney Roebuck from designs by John Carter in the shape of the "clubs" symbol used in playing cards (♣). It has been suggested, originally in a magazine article in 1899, that he asked for the clubs design to represent an ace of clubs because he had obtained the money for the castle from gambling on a card game, but this is unlikely, as the porch which creates the "stem" of the symbol was added later. It is more likely that the layout was taken from an article which had been published in Builder's Magazine in 1774. The house has a sub triangular or trefoil plan formed by 3 semi-circular towers conjoined in a gothic style. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.

In 1810, the castle was bought by one of the Conollys of Castletown House in County Kildare, who added the porch (said to give the clubs symbol its stalk) and built the nearby stables and chapel, known as the priory. The latter fell into disrepair after the last of the Conollys sold the house in 1901.

Soon after 1810 Kingham Field, which was part of the estate, was operating as a stone quarry similar to the nearby Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines. William Smith, who became known as "Father of English Geology", proposed conveying the stone by a railway down to Tucking Mill where it would be sawn by machinery, and then loaded on to canal barges and transported via the Somerset Coal Canal and the Kennet and Avon Canal to Bath and London. In April 1814, Smith mortgaged the remainder of his estate to Charles Conolly who then controlled the railway and probably extended it to his Vinegar Down Quarry.

Text adapted from “Midford Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Midford Castle ranks #5,396 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #349 of the 397 mapped in England. Founded 1775, it is older than 14% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 757 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,505 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bristol, 21 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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