Wentworth - Roman Ridge - Upper Haugh - Hoober Stand - Needle's Eye

Sam Roebuck

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Wentworth - Roman Ridge - Upper Haugh - Hoober Stand - Needle's Eye

The walk starts at the picturesque village of Wentworth. After visiting the very beautiful church, we enter the parklands of the Wentworth Estate, one-time home of the second Marquis of Rockingham (twice prime minister in the latter part of the 18th Century). We pass the grand building which served as the stables and then the house itself. The first of the Wentworth Follies (the Rockingham Mausoleum) is clearly visible in front of us. This is perhaps the grandest of the follies, but is only open to the public on Sundays between Spring and August Bank Holidays. Keep a lookout on the skyline to your right for the second of the follies, the 35m tower of Keppler's Column. This is now closed to the public, though a footpath (not on this walk) passes the base of the structure.

We leave the estate via a feature known as 'Roman Ridge', a 1st Century AD feature thought to have been built as a protection against the Romans, rather than by them. This takes us up to Upper Haugh and on to the third folly - Hoober Stand. This distinctive, triangular-based structure was built by the second Marquis of Rockingham to commemorate the quelling of the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745.

A small detour from the route takes us to the last of the follies, the Needle's Eye. Rumour has it that this structure was built by Earl Fitzwilliam in 1780 as a result of a strange wager. He had boasted to friends (possibly while drunk) that he could drive a horse and carriage through the eye of a needle. They challenged him and monies were laid down. Posterity has it that the earl won the bet only by building his own Needle's Eye.

The walk now returns us to Wentworth, where we can refresh ourselves either at the pub (The Rockingham Arms) or the tea shop, both of which are adjacent to the car park.

England - North England - Yorkshire - Countryside

Features

Ancient Monument, Cafe, Church, Good for Kids, Lake/Loch, Pub, Public Transport, Stately Home, Tea Shop, Woodland

2/17/2020 - Pauline Franks

We did this walk today, 20/02/2020. The instructions were very easy to follow and it was a nice walk. One point I would make, though, is that the car park in Wentworth village states there is a maximum 3 hour limit with no return for 24 hrs. It says that it is monitored by CCTV, although if this is true they are well hidden. As Sam Roebuck says the walk should take you 3 hrs 14 mins. if you intend to stop en route for picnic you will exceed the limit in the car park. Don't know what the penalty is for overstaying but we didn't risk it and parked at the garden centre instead.

9/11/2016 - Linda Gledhill

We have done this walk twice in the summer of 2016 and Hoober Stand no longer seems to open to the public

4/28/2014 - Janet Pickard

This was probably my most favourite walk so far. Completed 15th March, 2014. Wentworth is a beautiful village and the estate is steeped in history and previous owners are fascinating(I went off and bought the book about it after the walk. It's called Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey). I don't think I've seen so many follies in one area. Loads of photographic opportunities to be had and a huge garden centre to visit after you have finished the walk. Again the instructions were perfect. We did go a little off course but it was easy to get back on track.

3/8/2009 - Sean-Jordan Baruch

Fantastic refreshing walk. Historical family walk.