Hartcliff Folly
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The Hartcliff Folly (or Tower) near Penistone, South Yorkshire, England was built in 1856 by a linen merchant called Henry Richardson. At this time the Linen works were Barnsley’s largest industry. Richardson also built Hartcliffe Lodge before becoming the first Mayor of the borough of Barnsley. The tower looks as though it’s a Folly but it has stairs running through the middle of it and some believe that it was used as a viewing platform for game shooting. Other ideas are that it was used as a look out for Mr. Richardson returning from Manchester on business.
The furthest landmark visible from the tower is Hawkstone Park in Shropshire (60 miles away). In ancient time, folk would rest by the tower.
The Folly was in disrepair but was restored in 1999/2000 by Mr. Jeff Pears on whose land it is sited on. He re-built it with his own money as a gift to the community of Penistone. It has since occasionally been open to the public, such as on 1st August 2006 when Penistone hosted the ‘Yorkshire Day’ celebrations. In 2008, it was the location of the first annual public open-air lecture on the history of Penistone hosted by local historian Adam Lawrenson. Over 50 people were in attendance, including the left-wing activist Martin Bailey and lawyer Richard Taylor.
