South Terrace Retaining Wall Including Parapet And Gateway

The South Terrace retaining wall, including a parapet and gateway, was begun around 1735 by Ralph Tunnicliffe for Thomas Watson Wentworth, with some later rebuilding. It is constructed of coursed, squared sandstone and features dressed sandstone buttresses. The retaining wall stretches from behind the south tower of Wentworth Woodhouse to a bastion, and then returns westward with a central bay that slightly projects, leading to another bay projection opposite the Ionic Temple. It continues for a short distance as a freestanding wall that includes a carriage entrance flanked by side gates. Buttresses are positioned approximately every 18 meters on the south-facing section. The bastion features a wall sundial by J. Metcalfe, dated 1767, although the gnomon is missing, and there is a half-round band beneath the parapet with weathered copings. The east-facing section of the wall is steeply battered and does not have buttresses. This structure is said to have been inspired by Lord Carlisle's terrace at Castle Howard.