Terrace Steps And Retaining Walls To Gardens Of South Front Of Wortley Hall

The terrace steps and retaining walls to the gardens at the south front of Wortley Hall were likely built in the early 19th century for the Wortley Hall estate. They are constructed from rock-faced and ashlar sandstone. There are two sets of steps leading to each terrace on the west side of the garden, with the southern steps aligned with the central fountain and featuring a double flight of steps down to the eastern terrace. A linked retaining wall runs along the east side of the garden and curves into a rounded projection that connects with the terrace directly in front of the house, which also has a double flight of steps leading down to the eastern terrace. The steps have nosed treads set between ashlar copings, with blocks positioned at both the top and bottom. The upper flight of steps at the eastern end of the cross-axis is bordered by rusticated round-headed openings and coped side walls, from which the retaining wall curves in quadrants. The round-ended projection at the north-east corner of the garden features rock-faced walling with projecting piers and moulded copings topped with gadrooned vases. Lady Caroline Creighton, the wife of James Archibald Stuart Wortley, is credited with the existing early 19th-century landscape design seen at Wortley Hall.