Hoober Stand is a tower and

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on a ridge in

Wentworth, South Yorkshire __NOTOC__ Wentworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. The village is surrounded by the very urbanised areas of Hoyland, Hoyland Nether, Barnsley. In the 2001 Census the parish ...

in northern England. It was designed by

Henry Flitcroft Henry Flitcroft (30 August 1697 – 25 February 1769) was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a humble background; his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court. Flitcroft began his career a ...

for the Whig aristocrat Thomas Watson-Wentworth, Earl of Malton (later the 1st

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family ...

) to commemorate the quashing of the

1745 Jacobite rebellion The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of the British Army was fightin ...

. It lies close to his country seat

Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, South Yorkshire, Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation T ...

. Its site is approximately above sea level and from the top there are long-distance views on a clear day. Hoober Stand is one of several

follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...

in and around Wentworth Woodhouse park; the others include

Needle's Eye Needle's Eye is a pyramid Grade II* listed building which is situated in Wentworth, South Yorkshire in northern England. Needle's Eye is one of several follies in and around Wentworth Woodhouse park; the others include Hoober Stand and Kep ...

and Keppel's Column.

Sidney Oldall Addy Sidney Oldall Addy (9 January 1848 – 15 November 1933) was an English author of books on folklore and history. He was born in Norton, Derbyshire, to coal merchant and landowner James Addy and his wife, Sarah. He studied classics at Lincoln Col ...

, the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

author calls the structure Woburn Stand in his 1888 book, ''A glossary of words used in the neighbourhood of Sheffield.''

History

Thomas Watson-Wentworth (the Earl of Malton and Lord Lieutenant of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

) fought for the British Government against the

1745 Jacobite rising The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

. When the rebellion was crushed, George II elevated the earl to the 1st Marquess of Rockingham (the title Earl of Malton passed to his only surviving son). Watson-Wentworth commissioned architect Henry Flitcroft to design a commemorative monument. Hoober Stand plaque

Construction lasted from 1746 to 1748, and the structure cost £3,000. The inscription above the doorway reads:

"1748
This Pyramidal Building was Erected
by his Majestys most Dutyfull Subject
THOMAS Marquess of Rockingham Etc.
In Grateful Respect to the Preserver of our Religion
Laws and Libertys
KING GEORGE The Second
Who by the blessing of God having Subdued a most Unnatural Rebellion
In Britain Anno 1746
Maintains the Ballance of Power and Settles
A just and Honourable peace in Europe
1748"

Location

Hoober Stand is situated on a high ridge some above sea level in a rural area near Rotherham, and is less than a mile from the village of Wentworth. Vehicular access is along Lea Brook Lane, north of the stand, to a car park next to the monument.

Structure

The tower, an

equilateral triangle An equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length, and all three angles are equal. Because of these properties, the equilateral triangle is a regular polygon, occasionally known as the regular triangle. It is the ...

with rounded corners in section and about 30 metres tall, is built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

sandstone. Its three walls are perpendicular to the ground for then taper to a hexagonal cupola surrounded by a triangular viewing platform reached by an internal helical stairway of 150 steps. It is believed that the three walls under the cupola represented England (including Wales), Scotland and Ireland all under one crown. The exterior is very plain but the interior is more decorative. The stairway is lit by five stairway windows and two cupola windows. The wall with the entrance door faces south. This wall has the second and fifth stairway windows (when ascending). On the north west wall the vast majority of the stonework is original. It has the third stairway window. The stand's lightning conductor runs down this wall. The north east wall has the first and fourth stairway windows. At the top of the tower is the hexagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

with a domed roof. It is surrounded by a triangular iron-railed viewing platform. Three of the cupola walls containing the door and windows are parallel to the tower walls. The door leads out onto the viewing platform. The platform is in the form of an equilateral triangle, with edges parallel to the south cupola wall and the windowed (north west and north east) cupola walls. The platform corners are adjacent to the cupola's three windowless (north, south east and south west) walls. Each corner has a decorative stone hexagonal-topped pedestal. The inward taper of the upper part of the three walls causes an optical illusion that the stand is falling over. The cupola, although situated over the centre of the building, appears to move from side to side as the tower is approached from different angles.

References

External links

Wentworth Village — Hoober Stand

{{coord, 53.48203, -1.38751, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Towers completed in 1748 Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Folly towers in England Observation towers in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in South Yorkshire Towers in South Yorkshire Wentworth, South Yorkshire

History

Location

Structure

See also

References

External links