Roundhay Castle (Folly)

En un regard

Le château en bref

Standing at the edge of a wood in Roundhay Park, north-east of Leeds, "The Castle" is a sham ruin imitating the gatehouse of a medieval fortress. It overlooks the slope running down to Waterloo Lake, one of the two lakes created in the early 19th century, and is one of the best-known viewpoints in the municipal park. It is a landscape folly and not a fortress: the building never had a defensive role. Commissioned by the banker Thomas Nicholson, who had acquired the estate in the early 19th century, it served as a place of leisure for his family – a summer house, an upper room for shooting-party luncheons – while punctuating the picturesque composition of the park. Its interest lies in its value as a witness to the Romantic taste for artificial ruins and in its role in the history of Roundhay Park, bought by the town after it was put up for sale in 1871 and now one of the great public parks of Leeds. Listed Grade II, it was consolidated and partly rebuilt in the 20th century.