Castle Howard the Four Faces is a Grade I listed building in the North Yorkshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 25 January 1954. Sculpture.

Castle Howard the Four Faces

WRENN ID
knotted-rubblework-tide
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
North Yorkshire
Constituency
Thirsk and Malton MP: Kevin Hollinrake (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
25 January 1954
Type
Sculpture
Address
Castle Howard the Four Faces, Henderskelfe
OS grid reference
SE 730 687
Coordinates
54.10931, -0.88366
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Four Faces is a sculpture located at Castle Howard, created before 1727 by Nicholas Hawksmoor for Charles Howard, the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. It is made of limestone and stands approximately 6 metres tall. The sculpture features a massive square plinth that supports four pulvinated courses, which in turn hold a rusticated base with raised panels and a moulded cornice. Above this, a tapering column rises to a bulbous, four-cornered sculpture that has damaged faces on each facade and a damaged apex. The sculpture is depicted on an estate map from 1727 and is listed in the Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England as part of the Grade I designation for Castle Howard.

Local climate

Castle Howard the Four Faces receives an average of 790 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 59% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 85% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 46 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 87% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 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.

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