Editing Mow Cop Castle

{{Short description|Folly on border of Cheshire and Staffordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2021}}
[[File:Mowcopcastle.jpg|thumb|right|Mow Cop Castle at sunset]]
'''Mow Cop Castle''' is a [[folly]] at [[Mow Cop]] in the [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] of [[Odd Rode]], [[Cheshire]], England.  It is designated as a Grade II [[listed building]] on the [[National Heritage List for England]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1162028|desc= Mow Cop Castle|accessdate= 3 April 2015|mode=cs2}}</ref> The ridge, upon which the castle sits, forms the boundary between the counties of [[Cheshire]] and [[Staffordshire]], the dioceses of Chester and Lichfield and the ecclesiastical provinces of Canterbury and York.

==History==
Built by Randle Wilbraham in 1754 as a folly (a decorative structure), it was designed to resemble medieval ruins. Wilbraham of nearby [[Rode Hall]] constructed the elaborate summerhouse and circular tower to look like medieval fortress ruins from the start, so its current state aligns with its intended aesthetic.<ref>{{cite web |title=5 castles in Cheshire that you should visit |url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cheshire/22598387.5-castles-cheshire-visit/ |website=Cheshire Life |date=9 January 2013 |publisher=Newsquest Media Group Ltd |access-date=9 January 2013}}</ref>

The area around the castle was nationally famous for the quarrying of high-quality millstones ('[[quern-stone|querns]]') for use in water mills. Excavations at Mow Cop have found querns dating back to the [[Iron Age]]. Traces of a prehistoric camp have also been found here. 

The Castle was given to the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] in 1937.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mow Cop Castle, Mow Cop, Staffordshire |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/educational-images/mow-cop-castle-mow-cop-6372 |website=Historic England }}</ref> That same year over ten thousand Methodists met on the hill to commemorate the first [[Primitive Methodist]] camp which met there in 1807.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Owen |title=The 'highly improper' story of Mow Cop |url=https://www.myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/content/subjects-2/primitive-methodist-history/mow_cop_the_highly_improper_story |website=My Primitive Methodists |publisher=The Methodist Church |access-date=15 September 2017}}</ref>

At the turn of the millennium, on New Year's Eve 1999, Mow Cop was a location for one of the hundreds of flaming beacons across the UK that were lit to welcome the new century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Beacons blaze across UK |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/586264.stm |website=BBC News |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=31 December 1999 |access-date=21 April 2024}}</ref>

Though visitors were originally allowed inside the tower of the folly, access is now prevented by a locked metal gate, which still allows views inside the folly. 

Mow Cop and its folly are central images in [[Alan Garner]]'s novel ''[[Red Shift (novel)|Red Shift]]''.

==See also==
{{portal|Cheshire}}
{{commons category|Mow Cop Castle}}
*[[Listed buildings in Kidsgrove]]
*[[Listed buildings in Odd Rode]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mowcop.info/ History of Mow Cop]
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[[Category:National Trust properties in Cheshire]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Cheshire]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions of the Peak District]]
[[Category:Folly castles in England]]
[[Category:Ruins in Cheshire]]
[[Category:Folly buildings in England]]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Staffordshire]]