Needle's Eye is a pyramid

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 ...

which is situated in Wentworth,

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

in northern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Needle's Eye is one of several follies in and around

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 ...

park; the others include

Hoober Stand Hoober Stand is a tower and Listed building, Grade II* listed building on a ridge in Wentworth, South Yorkshire in northern England. It was designed by Henry Flitcroft for the Whig (British political party), Whig aristocrat Thomas Watson-Wentw ...

and Keppel's Column.

History

It was constructed approximately in the mid-late 18th century and believed to have been made in order to win a wager, where the second Marquess of Rockingham claimed he was able to "drive a coach and horses through an eye of a needle". John Carr designed Needle's Eye alongside some other follies in the area. One side of the structure is heavily pockmarked. It is alleged

execution by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French , rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually rea ...

may have taken place at the building since they resemble

Musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

balls; however this is unsubstantiated.

Location

Needle's Eye is situated between two disused horse and carriage paths. The area is open to public.

Structure

It is a pyramid made of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

topped with a funerary urn, encompassing an archway of approximately . The wideness of the archway is roughly enough for a coach and horses to pass through, which fits its alleged purpose of creation.

References

{{coord, 53.48465, -1.40441, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 18th-century establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Grade II* listed buildings in South Yorkshire Wentworth, South Yorkshire Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham Folly buildings in England Pyramids in Europe John Carr (architect) buildings

History

Location

Structure

See also

References