Hartcliff Folly

The Hartcliffe Folly (or Tower) near Penistone, South Yorkshire, England was built in 1856 by a linenmerchant called Henry Richardson. At this time the Linen works were
Barnsley’s largest industry. Richardson also built Hartcliffe Lodgebefore becoming the first Mayor of the borough of Barnsley.The tower looks as though it’s a Folly but it has stairs runningthrough the middle of it and some believe that it was used as a viewing platform for game shooting. Other ideas are that it was usedas a look out for Mr. Richardson returning from Manchester onbusiness.

The furthest landmark visible from the tower is Hawkstone Park in
North Shropshire (60 miles away). In ancient time, folk would rest bythe 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 comunaty of Penistone. It has since occasionally been open to the public, such as on August 1st 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.