Midford Castle: A Gothic Folly near Bath
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page9 sections
History
Midford Castle is a Gothic folly in the United Kingdom, located in the village of Midford in the parish of Southstoke, about 3 miles south of Bath, Somerset. Henry Disney Roebuck commissioned it in 1775 from designs by the architect John Carter. Built primarily for picturesque effect rather than defence, the castle uses a medieval-inspired Gothic style and was planned in the shape of the clubs symbol on a playing card.
Origins and the Clubs Design
The unusual plan later attracted an explanation that Roebuck had won the money for the castle in a card game. A magazine article published in 1899 advanced this story, but it is considered unlikely because the porch that forms the symbol’s projecting stem was added after the original construction. The design was more probably influenced by an article published in Builder’s Magazine in 1774.
The Conolly Estate
In 1810, a member of the Conolly family of Castletown House in County Kildare bought Midford Castle. The new owner added the porch and constructed nearby stables and a chapel. These buildings became known together as the Priory. After the last Conolly sold the house in 1901, the Priory fell into disrepair.
Quarrying and the Canal Scheme
Soon after 1810, Kingham Field, part of the estate, was operated as a stone quarry. William Smith, the English geologist known as the “Father of English Geology,” proposed moving the stone by railway to Tucking Mill, where machinery would saw it before canal barges carried it through 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. Conolly then controlled the railway and probably extended it to the Vinegar Down Quarry. The scheme failed. In 1819, Conolly had Smith imprisoned in the King’s Bench Prison, a London prison used in part for debtors, and took control of the sawmill and Smith’s house at Tucking Mill.
Twentieth-Century Restoration
Michael Fenwick Briggs and his wife Isabel, the novelist better known by her pen name Isabel Colegate, bought Midford Castle in 1961. They undertook extensive renovation work, including the incorporation of the chapel into the garden as a picturesque ruin. In July 2007, actor Nicolas Cage bought the castle for 5 million pounds and sold it in 2009 to Scott Adams, founder of Nutrisport. The castle was later restored and converted into the Adams family home and a boutique hotel.
Midford Castle is listed as a Grade I building on the National Heritage List for England. Associated buildings and structures in the grounds have Grade II and Grade II* listings, while the Priory, about 500 yards northeast of the castle, is Grade II listed.
Remains
Castle Form
The castle has a sub-triangular, or trefoil, plan. This three-lobed layout is formed by three conjoined semicircular towers in the Gothic style. Together they create the outline of the clubs symbol from playing cards. The porch, added after the original building campaign, projects from the main composition as the symbol’s stem.
Grounds and Estate Buildings
The grounds contain an archway with a lodge and screen wall, as well as a pair of gate piers and gates. Another group comprises the stables, the old chapel, walls enclosing the stable yard, the coach house, and a greenhouse. The chapel was incorporated into the garden as a picturesque ruin during the twentieth-century renovation, giving the former religious building its present role within the estate landscape.
The Priory
The Priory stands about 500 yards northeast of Midford Castle. It comprises the associated stables and chapel, together with the buildings and enclosed spaces created around them. Its later disrepair followed the sale of the house by the last Conolly owner in 1901.
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