Sham Castle is a folly on Claverton Down overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1][2] It is a screen wall with a central pointed arch flanked by two 3-storey circular turrets, which extend sideways to a 2-storey square tower at each end of the wall.[1]
It was probably designed around 1755 by Sanderson Miller and built in 1762 by Richard James, master mason for Ralph Allen, “to improve the prospect” from Allen’s town house in Bath.[3]
Sham Castle is now illuminated at night.[4]
Other 18th-century so-called “sham castles” exist at Hagley Hall, Clent Grove and Castle Hill, Filleigh.
Ralph Allen’s nearby Prior Park Landscape Garden is home to the Sham Bridge.[5] This structure is likewise a screen at the end of the Serpentine Lake which appears to be a bridge. Much like the Sham Castle, it dates from the mid-18th century.
Another nearby folly castle is that of Midford Castle. Sham Castle is one of three follies overlooking Bath, the others being Beckford’s Tower and Brown’s Folly.