Panorama of Druid's Temple, Ilton, North Yorkshire |
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The Druids Temple, situated near Ilton, about 4 miles west of Masham, North Yorkshire, is a folly created by Squire William Danby (1752 - 1833) of nearby Swinton Hall in 1820. The Druid's Temple features an enormous oval of altars, menhirs, dolmens, sarsens and other phallic and neo-Druidical paraphernalia and sits deep within a private forest and includes a large stone table, a sheltered cave and an altar stone. The temple is approximately 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, with some of the stones standing over 10 feet high. Several solitary standing stones line a ceremonial avenue leading to the Druid's Temple. William Danby was made High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1784 and he created the temple to generate work for the local population who were paid 1 shilling a day. It was reported that William Danby offered to provide any individual with food, and a subsequent annuity, providing he would reside in the Druids Temple seven years, living the primitive life, speaking to no one and allowing his beard and hair to grow. It is said that one man underwent this self-imposed infliction for four-and-a-half years, at the end of which he was compelled to admit defeat. West of the temple through the trees a view has been left open towards Leighton Reservoir, lying far below in the valley. Nowadays Swinton Hall is a luxury hotel, hosting Rosemary Schrager's cookery school.
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