Rothley Castle – A Northumberland Folly with a Medieval Disguise

Rothley Castle is one of the most convincing “fake” ruins in the North East, built not for defence but purely for dramatic effect. Created in the mid-18th century for Sir Walter Blackett, who owned nearby Wallington, the structure was designed to look like the remains of a medieval fortress commanding the landscape. Its architect, Daniel Garrett, shaped the building with crumbling battlements, arrow-slit windows and partial walls, giving the impression of a long-abandoned stronghold scattered across the hilltop. It worked — centuries later, many visitors still assume they’re looking at a genuine medieval ruin.

From the air, the effect is even more striking. The broken walls form a rough L-shape across the slope, with the tallest section resembling a surviving gatehouse staring out across sweeping Northumberland countryside. The surrounding landscape stretches into patchwork fields, wooded pockets, and open moorland, all framed by that soft autumn light that wraps the hills in warm colour. Rothley Castle might have been built as a folly, but there’s nothing foolish about how impressive it still looks today.