Caudwell's Castle, Oxford

 

Even on our walk out of Oxford city centre towards Abingdon, we came across an interesting building called Caudwell's Castle just before the river:

Have just read that Caudwell Castle was built for Joseph Caudwell, an eccentric Oxford accountant, who possibly had the building constructed as some kind of joke to accompany the name of Folly Bridge that stands next to it.

Interestingly, in 1851, Caudwell is said to have stood trial for shooting and seriously wounding a drunken undergraduate who tried to drag one of the building's cannons into the river. However, Caudwell was found not guilty given the daft criminal intent of the student concerned.

What stuck out for me was the white statues on the front and river-side of Caudwell Castle:

Have just read that the statues are made of plaster and include one of Atlas who has lost his globe.