Place Name
Laid out over the grounds of Pagoda House (renamed Selwyn Court in 1878) which was the home of local landowners the Selwyn family since 1810. The house was knocked down in 1895. The name itself comes from the 10-storey high Pagoda built in 1761 by Sir William Chambers for Princess Augusta in her gardens at Kew and was within sight of the Selwyn’s home. Sir Horace Walpole is said to have hated the octagonal pagoda from the start, during construction he complained “in a fortnight, you will be able to see it in Yorkshire”. It has since been estimated that it would need to be 80 times taller – or 2.5 miles tall – for it to be visible in Yorkshire.
