Ragged Castle or Keeper's Lodge is a Grade II* listed building in the South Gloucestershire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 10 November 1983. Folly, eyecatcher.

Ragged Castle or Keeper's Lodge

WRENN ID
calm-vestry-khaki
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
South Gloucestershire
Constituency
Thornbury and Yate MP: Claire Young (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
10 November 1983
Type
Folly, eyecatcher
Address
Ragged Castle or Keeper's Lodge, Hawkesbury
OS grid reference
ST 805 860
Coordinates
51.57336, -2.28276
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Ragged Castle, also known as Keeper's Lodge, is a folly and eyecatcher built around 1750 by Thomas Wright of Durham. Constructed from rubble, the roof has since disappeared. The building features a castellated Gothick style with a heavy influence from Vanbrugh. It has a square shape with a projecting semi-circular stair turret and a stack on the opposite side. The parapet is supported by a corbel table and has heavy, irregular stone slab castellations. There are blocked single light windows beneath a heavy dripstone. A plank studded door is located on the north-west side under a lean-to porch. Inside, there is a single room per floor, each with 19th-century fireplaces. The castle is situated on a motte at the end of one of the main drives leading from Badminton House. It is one of several buildings designed by Wright for the 4th Duke of Beaufort and is part of his notable collection of garden and park buildings, constructed between 1748 and 1756.

Local climate

Ragged Castle or Keeper's Lodge receives an average of 810 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 51% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 51% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 65% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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