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Winter walk 2 With a freshly charged battery in my camera as it died rather early last time, I decided to do a similar walk through the local woodland to a nearby landmark - Keppels column. The column was erected by the second Marquess Rockingham (twice Prime Minister of the UK) and was originally meant to mark the southern boundary of his lands - all of the land in the photographs belonged to the Rockingham family ( including Wentworth and Rockingham villages, which were named after them). Afer a politically motivated court martial against fellow Whig politician Admiral Augustus Keppel was defeated Rockingham decided to make the column a triumphal symbol and dedicated it to Keppel. The column was never properly finished but there is an internal spiral staircase and you could climb to the top until about 1970. Since then cracks in the walls have been stabilised by steel bands and the tower is sealed off. As a listed building it cannot be demolished and has been gifted to the local council; something of a poison chalice I would think. Wentworth church, one of the prettiest in the area, is visible in picture 2, as are Wentworh Castle in the far distance and the walls of Wentworth Woodhouse near the church. . The church will be the subject of a later blog I am sure. Wentworth Woodhouse is one of the largest country houses in the UK with an impressive frontage and belonged to the Earls Fitzwilliam until donated to a trust in 1979. The trust is restoring the house in a massive project costing 30 million so far. We sang on the steps of the grand hall for their Christmas fair last year but were unable to repeat that this year unfortunately. Wentworth Castle was built to rival Wentworth Woodhouse by Thomas Wentworth when his cousin Thomas Watson-Wentworth inherited the land and titles in 1695. Wentworth built the Castle to spite his cousin in a tale of bitter 18th century one upmanship.           |
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Local history can be fascinating.
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What a gorgeous area!! Yes, local history is always interesting.... and the UK sure has a lot of it compared to countries like Canada. Thanks for sharing your photos~~ 
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Lovely place, looks like a great area for a walk. Thanks for posting the pictures.
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