Needle's Eye: A Rich Man's Folly

"...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God..."

The Gospel reading that prompted the 2nd Marquis of Rockingham to have this 'monument' built.

This is THE NEEDLE'S EYE: 2nd of the four Wentworth Follies, and the most enigmatic of all four. The 1st being the Hoober Stand.

A stone 'gateway' in the form of a pyramid, it is said to have been built around 1746, and is about 45ft high, was built with a tall ogee arch and a flamboyant urn on top. Legend has it that, while the Earl of Fitzwilliam was inebriated, the above scripture came up and he accepted a wager that he, the 2nd Marquis of Rockingham, being one of the richest men of England during his time, wouldn't be able to drive his coach and horses through 'the eye of a needle'. The following morning, sober, he realised the difficulty of completing the challenge so, in an expensive solution, he constructed a narrow arch just wide enough to allow a coach through and called it "The Needle's Eye". It is not known if the legend is true.

There is also evidence of a possible execution by firing squad on one side, where there are several distinct musket-ball marks in the stone. More visible when seen LARGE

Ahhh... Rich people eh?!

I wasn't too pleased that the sky didn't even give me any form of decent cloud to at least add a bit of 'nice-ness' to this shot.. oh well... This'll do... For your added pleasure, I've also added a link to a shot of a little Bluebell which I took.. They were all over the hillside on the way to this Folly, couldn't resist stopping and smelling shooting the flowers..

Mr M is on night shift tonight, so yours truly is having the whole house to myself.. What to do, what to do..?

P.S.
Sorry forgot to add a link so you can view the FRONT OF THE FOLLY as well..