The Mount

The Mount, also known as Polly Peachum’s Tower, stands on a rise about a mile south-east of Bolton Hall in North Yorkshire. A small hunting tower, it overlooks a valley of open fields and parkland. The building is made of limestone blocks with dressed stone around its edges. It has two storeys, the first floor being taller than the ground floor. Three of its walls each have a large window in the centre, while the fourth corner has partly collapsed. The tower was probably built in the late 17th or early 18th century by one of the first two Dukes of Bolton. A map from 1723 shows it standing in an unenclosed park used for hunting. By the 1790s it was called a folly and linked to Lavinia Fenton, the actress who played Polly Peachum. She lived with the Duke of Bolton for many years and the tower may have been refurbished for her visits. Visitors find a square ruin of coursed limestone with ashlar dressings. The first-floor windows are tall and centred in each wall. Part of the south-east corner has fallen away, leaving jagged edges. The surrounding parkland stretches towards Bolton Hall across the valley. Plans exist to restore the tower for small gatherings, keeping its original purpose alive.