2-323-887 - www.picturethepast.org.uk/Brighouse Collection/Heritage Images

Bladen Castle, rear view, near Burton on Trent, Derbyshire, c1960s-1970s(?). Bladen Castle is a red brick crenellated building perched high on Bladen Hill at the western edge of the village. It was built in c1790 and converted by a Mr Abraham Hoskins (who was the son of a local solicitor) into a house. It was known as Hoskins' folly, for it was mainly a facade, a frontage built for appearance rather than the real thing. The architect may have been Wyatville (who had been responsible for Bretby Park), who was paid in 1799 for a design for Bladon Hill, Burton on Trent, for A Hoskins. It is privately owned and now largely concealed from the main road by trees.