Sham Castle is a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

on Claverton Down overlooking the city of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It is a 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 ...

. It is a screen wall with a central pointed arch flanked by two 3-storey circular turrets, which extend sideways to a 2-storey square tower at each end of the wall. It was probably designed around 1755 by Sanderson Miller and built in 1762 by Richard James, master mason for

Ralph Allen Ralph Allen ( – 29 June 1764) was a British postmaster, merchant and philanthropist best known for his reforms to General Post Office#Early postal services, Britain's postal system. Born in St Columb Major, Cornwall, he moved to Bath, Somers ...

, "to improve the prospect" from Allen's town house in Bath. Sham Castle is now illuminated at night.

Generic term

Other 18th-century so-called "sham castles" exist at

Hagley Hall Hagley Hall is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, George, 1st Lord Lytte ...

, Clent Grove,

Castle Hill, Filleigh Castle Hill in the parish of Filleigh in North Devon, is an early Neo-Palladian country house situated north-west of South Molton and south-east of Barnstaple. It was built in 1730 by Baron Clinton, Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (169 ...

and two at Croome Court ( Dunstall and Pirton castles). Ralph Allen's nearby Prior Park Landscape Garden is home to the Sham Bridge. This structure is likewise a screen at the end of the Serpentine Lake which appears to be a bridge. Much like the Sham Castle, it dates from the mid-18th century. Another nearby folly castle is that of Midford Castle. Sham Castle is one of three follies overlooking Bath, the others being Beckford's Tower and Browne's Folly. In Piltown, County Kilkenny, Ireland is a partially-built monument known as 'Sham Castle'. It was intended to commemorate someone believed to have died but who later turned up during construction.

References

{{reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Folly castles in England Buildings and structures in Bath, Somerset