{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox Historic Site | name =Sham Castle | native_name = | native_language = | image =Ralph Allens Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1762356.jpg | caption = | locmapin =Somerset | coordinates = {{coord|51|22|57|N|2|20|15|W|display=inline,title}} | location =Claverton Down, Somerset, England | area = | built =1762 | architect =Sanderson Miller | architecture = | governing_body = | designation1 =Grade II* listed building | designation1_offname = | designation1_date =1 February 1956<ref name="IoE"/> | designation1_number =1312449 | designation2 = | designation2_offname = | designation2_date = | designation2_number = }} '''Sham Castle''' is a folly on Claverton Down overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.<ref name="IoE"/><ref name="NHLE">{{National Heritage List for England| num=1312449 |desc=Sham Castle |grade=II* |accessdate=6 July 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref name="IoE">{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1312449 |title=Sham Castle |access-date=2008-03-15 |work=historicengland.org.uk }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dunning|first=Robert|title=Somerset Castles|year=1995|publisher=Somerset Books|location=Tiverton|isbn=0-86183-278-7|pages=77}}</ref>
Sham Castle is now illuminated at night.<ref name="scott">{{cite book |title=The hidden places of Somerset |last=Scott |first=Shane |year=1995 |publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd |location=Aldermaston |isbn=1-902007-01-8 |pages=16–17 }}</ref>
==Generic term== Other 18th-century so-called "sham castles" exist at Hagley Hall, Clent Grove, Castle Hill, Filleigh and two at Croome Court (Dunstall and Pirton castles). thumb|Rear view of Sham Castle, showing that the castle was intended to be viewed only from the front.
Ralph Allen's nearby Prior Park Landscape Garden is home to the Sham Bridge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/2709/history |title=Prior Park |publisher=Parks and Gardens Data Services Ltd |date=27 July 2007 |access-date=6 July 2015 |archive-date=26 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226220051/http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/2709/history |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 Browne's Folly.
In Piltown, County Kilkenny, Ireland is a partially-built monument known as 'Sham Castle'. It was intended to commemorate someone believed to have died but who later turned up during construction.
==References== {{commons category|Sham Castle}} {{reflist}}
Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Category:Folly castles in England Category:Buildings and structures in Bath, Somerset