Mow Cop Castle

Mow Cop Castle is a folly located in Mow Cop, Staffordshire.

Mow Cop Castle is built on the site of a prehistoric camp which may have also been used by the Romans, as they had a camp nearby at Bent farm.

In 1754, Randle Wilbraham I of Rode Hall built the folly at Mow Cop in the style of a ruined castle and then used it as a summer house.

Ralph Sneyd of Keele Hall disputed the ownership of the land the folly was built upon and a subsequent court case, saw the folly opened up to the public with Mr Wilbraham and Mr Sneyd both paying towards upkeep of the folly. One exception to this was that the folly had to be closed during the local church service on Sundays.

By the end of the 19th century the folly became a real ruin, the windows, doors and floor were gone. The folly and the surrounding lands were sold in 1923 to Joe Lovatt who then began to quarry the stone. A bitter legal fight ensued between the local people, who had use of the land for many years and Mr Lovatt. This was a long drawn out struggle, which ended in 1935, but the quarrying ending in 1937 with the deeds to the land and folly being handed over to the National Trust. The folly was repaired, but not to its former glory.

More repairs were carried out in 1999 by the National Trust, with the inclusion of iron bars and a large iron gate which stopped people entering the folly. 2002 saw yet more work carried out, this time to the foundations and to make the brick work safe. This was completed in 2003