In
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
, a
folly is a
buildingIn architecture, construction, engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following:# Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or...
constructed strictly as a decoration, having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional structure. In the 18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening often featured Roman temples, which symbolized classical virtues or ideals. Other 18th century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills and cottages, to symbolize rural virtues. "Folly" is used in the sense of fun or light-heartedness, not in the sense of something ill-advised.
Characteristics
The concept of the folly is somewhat ambiguous, but they generally have the following properties:
- They are buildings, or parts of buildings. Thus they are distinguished from other garden ornaments such as sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
.
- They have no purpose other than as an ornament. Often they have some of the appearance of a building constructed for a particular purpose, but this appearance is a sham.
- They are purpose-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments.
- They are often eccentric in design or construction. This is not strictly necessary; however, it is common for these structures to call attention to themselves through unusual details or form.
- There is often an element of fakery in their construction. The canonical example of this is the sham ruin: a folly which pretends to be the remains of an old building but which was in fact constructed in that state.
Related types
Follies fall within the general realm of fanciful and impractical architecture, and whether a particular structure is a folly is sometimes a matter of opinion. However, there are several types which are related but which can be distinguished from follies.
- Fantasy and novelty buildings
Novelty architecture is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes as a novelty, such as advertising, notoriety as a landmark, or simple eccentricity of the owner or architect. Many examples of novelty architecture take the form of buildings that...
are essentially the converse of follies. Follies often look like real, usable buildings, but never are; novelty buildings are usable, but have fantastic shapes. The many American shops and water towerA water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated water storage container constructed for the purpose of holding a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system. Pressurization occurs through the elevation of water; for every of elevation, it produces of...
s in the shapes of commonplace items, for example, are not properly follies.
- Eccentric structures may resemble follies, but the mere presence of eccentricity is not proof that a building is a folly. Many mansions and castles are quite eccentric, but being purpose-built to be used as residences, they are not properly follies.
- Some structures are popularly referred to as "follies" because they failed to fulfill their intended use. Their design and construction may be foolish, but in the architectural sense, they are not follies.
- Visionary art
Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences....
structures frequently blur the line between artwork and folly, if only because it is rather often hard to tell what intent the artist had. The word "folly" carries the connotation that there is something frivolous about the builder's intent, and it is hard to say whether a structure like the Watts TowersThe Watts Towers or Towers of Simon Rodia in the Watts district of Los Angeles, California, is a collection of 17 interconnected structures, two of which reach heights of over 99 feet . The Towers were built by Italian immigrant construction worker Sabato Rodia in his spare time over a period of...
was constructed "seriously". Some works (such as the massive complex by Ferdinand ChevalFerdinand Cheval was a French postman who spent 33 years of his life building Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives which is regarded as an extraordinary example of naïve art architecture.-Origins:...
) are considered as follies because they are in the form of useful buildings, but are plainly constructions of extreme and intentional impracticality.
- Amusement park
Amusement park or theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group of people. An amusement park is more elaborate than a simple city park or playground, usually providing attractions meant to cater...
s, fairgroundFairground most typically refers to a permanent space that hosts fairs, commonly a state fair or an agricultural show.Fairground may also refer to:*Funfair*"Fairground" , a song by the band Simply Red...
s, and expositionUniversal Exposition or Expo is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the mid-19th century. They are the third largest event in the world in terms of economic and cultural impact after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games...
s often have fantastical buildings and structures. Some of these are follies, and some are not; the distinction, again, comes in their usage. Shops, restaurants, and other amusements are often housed in strikingly odd and eccentric structures, but these are not follies. On the other hand, fake structures which serve no other purpose than decoration are also common, and these are follies.
History
Follies began as decorative accents on the great estates of the late 16th and early 17th centuries but they flourished especially in the two centuries which followed. Many estates were blessed with picturesque ruins of monastic houses and (in Italy) Roman villas; others, lacking such buildings, constructed their own sham versions of these
romanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
structures. Such structures were often dubbed "[name of architect or builder]'s Folly", after the single individual who commissioned or designed the project. However, very few follies are completely without a practical purpose. Apart from their decorative aspect, many originally had a use which was lost later, such as hunting towers. Follies are misunderstood structures, according to The Folly Fellowship, a charity that exists to celebrate the history and splendour of these often neglected buildings.
Follies in 18th Century French and English Gardens
Follies (FR:
fabriques) were an important feature of the
English gardenThe English garden or English landscape park is a style of landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe....
and
French landscape gardenThe French landscape garden is a style of garden inspired by idealized Italian landscapes and the romantic paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, European ideas about Chinese gardens, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
in the 18th century, such as Stowe and
StourheadStourhead is a 2,650 acre estate at the source of the River Stour near Mere, Wiltshire, England. The estate includes a Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, gardens, farmland, and woodland...
in England and
ErmenonvilleErmenonville is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.Ermenonville is notable for its park named for Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose tomb designed by the painter Hubert Robert is on the Isle of Poplars in its lake.-Park:...
and the
gardens of VersaillesThe gardens of Versailles occupy part of what was once the Domaine royale de Versailles, the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French Garden style perfected here by...
in France. They were usually in the form of Roman temples, ruined Gothic abbeys, or Egyptian pyramids. In France they sometimes took the form of romantic farmhouses, mills and cottages, as in
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
's Hameau de la Reine at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as
Claude LorrainClaude Lorrain, traditionally just Claude in English was an artist of the Baroque era who was active in Italy, and is admired for his achievements in landscape painting.-Early years:Lorrain was born in 1604 or 1605 into poverty in the town of Champagne, Vosges...
and
Hubert RobertHubert Robert , French artist, was born in Paris.His father, Nicolas Robert, was in the service of François-Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville...
. Often they had symbolic importance, illustrating the virtues of ancient Rome, or the virtues of country life. The temple of philosophy at
ErmenonvilleErmenonville is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.Ermenonville is notable for its park named for Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose tomb designed by the painter Hubert Robert is on the Isle of Poplars in its lake.-Park:...
, left unfinished, symbolized that knowledge would never be complete, while the temple of modern virtues at Stowe was deliberately ruined, to show the decay of contemporary morals.
Later in the 18th century, the follies became more exotic, representing other parts of the world- they included Chinese pagodas, Japanese bridges, and Tatar tents.
.
Famine Follies
The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49 led to the building of several follies. The society of the day held that reward without labour was misguided. However, to hire the needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, construction projects termed "famine follies" came to be built. These include: roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points; screen and estate walls; piers in the middle of bogs; etc.
Examples
Follies are found world-wide, but they are particularly abundant in
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
. See also :Category:Folly buildings.
France
- Désert de Retz
The désert de Retz is an Anglo-Chinois or French landscape garden - created on the edge of the forêt de Marly in the commune of Chambourcy. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville on his 40 hectare estate...
, folly garden in ChambourcyChambourcy is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located west of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and about west of Paris.Its inhabitants are called Camboriciens...
near ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
(18th century)
- Parc de la Villette
The Parc de la Villette is a park in Paris at the outer edge of the 19th arrondissement, bordering the Boulevard Périphérique, which is a ring road around Paris, and the suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis...
in ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
has a number of modern follies by architect Bernard TschumiBernard Tschumi is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Born of French and Swiss parentage, he works and lives in New York and Paris. He studied in Paris and at ETH in Zurich, where he received his degree in architecture in 1969...
.
- Ferdinand Cheval
Ferdinand Cheval was a French postman who spent 33 years of his life building Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives which is regarded as an extraordinary example of naïve art architecture.-Origins:...
in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, built what he called an Ideal Palace, seen as an example of naive architecture.
Hungary
- Bory Castle at Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary, located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 106,346 people , with 138,995 in the direct vicinity, and is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia. In the Middle Ages the city was a royal residence and...
- Taródi Castle at Sopron
Sopron ; , , Latin: Scarbantia) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near the Neusiedler/Lake Fertő.- Ancient times-13th century :...
- Vajdahunyad vára
Vajdahunyad Castle, or Vajdahunyad vára, is a castle in City Park, Budapest, Hungary, that was built between 1896 and 1908, designed by Ignác Alpár...
in the City ParkVárosliget is a public park in Budapest, Hungary close to the city centre. It is located in District XIV of Budapest. Its main entrance is Heroes' Square , one of Hungary's World Heritage sites.-Name:The area was formerly called Ökör-dűlő, meaning "Oxmeadow"...
of BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
India
- Overbury's Folly
Overbury's Folly is an unfinished construction, or architectural folly, that now serves as a recreational park located in Thalassery, south India....
, ThalasseryThalassery, also known as Tellicherry, is a city on the Malabar Coast of Kerala, India. This is the second largest city of North Malabar. It is 21 km from the district headquarters, Kannur. The name Tellicherry is the anglicized form of Thalassery. Thalassery municipality has a population...
, KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
Ireland
- Carden's Folly
The Devil's Bit is a mountain in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies to the north-west of the town of Templemore and is, according to the Ordnance Survey Ireland, 478m above sea level at its highest elevation.-History:...
- Casino at Marino
The Casino at Marino, located in Marino, Dublin, Ireland was designed by Scottish architect Sir William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont, starting in the late 1750s and finishing around 1775. It is a small and perfect example of Neo-Classical architecture, situated in the...
- Conolly's Folly
Conolly's Folly , a.k.a. The Obelisk or originally The Conolly Folly, is an obelisk structure located near Celbridge and Maynooth, both in north County Kildare, Ireland.-History:...
- Larchill
Larchill, one of Ireland's most important gardens, is the most complete surviving Ferme ornée in Europe and the site of multiple follies. The main component of Larchill Demesne, it was created in the mid-18th century, and restored from the mid-1990s...
in County KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
, with several follies
- St Anne's Park
St. Anne's Park is a public park and recreational facility, shared between Raheny and Clontarf, both suburbs on the northside of Dublin, Ireland....
, which contains a number of follies
- The Wonderful Barn
The Wonderful Barn is a corkscrew shaped barn built on the edge of Castletown House Estate of the Conolly family, which borders Leixlip and Celbridge, Ireland. It was built in 1743 on the Leixlip side of the Castletown Estate...
Russia
- Ruined towers in Peterhof
Peterhof is a municipal town within Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland . It hosts one of two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University...
, Tsarskoe Selo, GatchinaGatchina is a city in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located 45 km south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov. Population: It is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-Early history:...
, and Tsaritsino
- Creaking Pagoda
The Creaking Pagoda between two ponds in the landscape park separating the Catherine Palace and Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia is a reference to the 18th-century taste for Chinoiserie. It was designed by Georg von Veldten. Construction lasted from 1778 to 1786. The walls are decorated...
and Chinese VillageThe Chinese Village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoe Selo, Russia was Catherine the Great's attempt to follow the 18th-century fashion for the Chinoiserie....
in Tsarskoe Selo
- Dutch Admiralty
The Dutch Admiralty is the name applied to three follies designed in the traditional Dutch style and erected in summer 1773 on the bank of the Large Pond in the Catherine Park of Tsarskoe Selo. The pavilions are flanked by two towers in the Russian Gothic style...
in Tsarskoe Selo
United Kingdom
- Ashton Memorial
The Ashton Memorial is a folly in Williamson Park, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and 1909 by millionaire industrialist Baron Ashton in memory of his second wife, Jessy. At around 100 feet tall, it dominates the Lancaster skyline and is visible for many miles around. It also offers...
, LancasterLancaster is the county town of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying...
, England
- Beckford's Tower
Beckford's Tower, originally known as Lansdown Tower, is an architectural folly built in neo-classical style on Lansdown Hill, just outside Bath, Somerset, England....
, SomersetSomerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west...
, England
- Broadway Tower
Broadway Tower is a folly located on Broadway Hill, A44 between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh, one mile south-east of the village of Broadway, Worcestershire, England, at the second highest point of the Cotswolds after Cleeve Hill. Broadway Tower's base is 1,024 feet above sea level. The tower...
, The CotswoldsThe Cotswolds is a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England", an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the Cotswolds range is Cleeve Hill at , to the north of Cheltenham...
, England
- Bettisons Folly
Bettisons Folly is a tower in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is also referred to as Bettisons Tower and was built some time between 1829 and 1853 by William Bettison....
, HornseaHornsea is a small seaside resort town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England at the eastern end of the Trans Pennine Trail. According to the 2001 UK Census Hornsea parish had a population of 8,243....
, England
- Black Castle Public House
Black Castle Public House is a historic building in Junction Rd, Brislington, Bristol, England. It is also known as Arno's Castle.It was built in 1745—1755 as a folly sham castle and office, but may have originally been a stable block and laundry for the lord of the manor...
, BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff.With an estimated population of 416,400 for the unitary authority in mid-2007, and a surrounding urban area with an estimated 561,500 residents, it is England's sixth, and...
, England
- The Cage at Lyme Park
Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire, England . It consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens, in a deer park in the Peak District National Park. The house is the largest in Cheshire, and a Grade I listed building....
, CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
, England
- The Castle at Roundhay Park
Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest city parks in Europe. It has over of parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens which are owned by Leeds City Council. The park is one of the most popular attractions in Leeds, nearly a million people visit each year...
, LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
, England
- Clavell Tower
Clavell Tower is a folly built in 1830 by Rev. John Richards Clavell of Smedmore House. It lies on the Jurassic Coast, on the top of Hen Cliff just east of Kimmeridge Bay in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England....
, DorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county at . Between its extreme points Dorset measures from east to west and north to south, and has an area of...
, England
- Clytha Castle
Clytha Castle is a folly near Clytha between Llanarth and Raglan in Monmouthshire, south east Wales.- Location :Clytha Castle folly is set close to the A40 Abergavenny to Raglan road, originally within the parkland that formed part of the estate of nearby Clytha House, some four miles west of...
MonmouthshireMonmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a larger area.-Historic county:...
- The Caldwell Tower, Lugton
Lugton is a small village or hamlet in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 80 people. The A736 road runs through on its way from Glasgow, to the north, to Irvine in North Ayrshire. Uplawmoor is the first settlement on this 'Lochlibo Road' to the north and Burnhouse is to the south...
, RenfrewshireRenfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic Renfrewshire, also known as the County of Renfrew or Greater Renfrewshire, the other two being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, Scotland.
- Dunmore Pineapple
The Dunmore Pineapple is a remarkable folly situated in Dunmore Park, approximately one kilometre northwest of Airth in the Falkirk council area, Scotland....
, FalkirkFalkirk Falkirk Falkirk is a town in central Scotland lying to the north west and north east of the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, respectively. According to a 2007...
, Scotland
- Faringdon Folly, Faringdon
Faringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, in Oxfordshire. It is located on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...
, OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
- Flounder's Folly
Flounders' Folly is a tower, built in 1838, on Callow Hill, between Craven Arms and Ludlow, Shropshire, England. The tower is approximately tall and square and is clearly visible from the Cardiff-Crewe railway line, just north of Craven Arms and also from the busy A49 Shrewsbury to Hereford road...
, ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
, England
- The Folly Tower
The Folly Tower - - is a folly located within Pontypool Park, Torfaen, South Wales . It is a prominent local landmark above the A4042 Pontypool to Abergavenny road and overlooks Pontypool to the west and rural Monmouthshire to the east...
at PontypoolPontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....
, WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
- Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey — also known as Beckford's Folly — was a large Gothic revival country house built at the turn of the 19th century in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford...
, WiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in the south west of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers 3,485 km²...
, England
- Fort Belvedere, Surrey
Fort Belvedere is a country house on Shrubs Hill in Windsor Great Park, England very near Sunningdale, Berkshire, but actually over the border in the borough of Runnymede in Surrey. It is a former royal residence - from 1750 to 1976 - and is most famous for being the home of King Edward VIII...
, England
- Freston Tower
Freston Tower is a six-story red brick folly south of Ipswich, Suffolk in the village of Freston. It stands on the banks of the River Orwell.- Construction date :...
, near IpswichIpswich is a non-metropolitan district and the county town of Suffolk, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe in Suffolk and Harwich and Colchester in Essex...
, SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
- Gothic Tower at Goldney Hall
Goldney Hall also known as Goldney House is a self-catered hall of residence in Clifton, Bristol, one of three in the area providing accommodation for students at the University of Bristol....
, BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff.With an estimated population of 416,400 for the unitary authority in mid-2007, and a surrounding urban area with an estimated 561,500 residents, it is England's sixth, and...
- The Great Pagoda at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. The director is Professor Stephen D. Hopper, who succeeded Professor Sir Peter Crane...
, London¨
- Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle is a Grade 1 listed 19th century mock castle near Abergele in Conwy county borough, North Wales.The castle was built between 1819 and 1825 at the behest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh, grandfather of Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald. From 1894 until 1924, when the Countess...
, one of Europe's largest follies, Abergele, North Wales
- Hadlow Tower, Hadlow, Kent, England
- Hawkstone Park
Hawkstone Park is an hotel set in historic parkland near to Market Drayton, in Shropshire, England, UK, one mile east of the A49 road....
, follies and gardens in ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
, England
- Hume Castle
Hume Castle is the heavily modified remnants of a late 12th or early 13th century "Castle of enceinte".Located between Greenlaw and Kelso, two miles north of the village of Stichill, in Berwickshire, Scotland....
. BerwickshireBerwickshire or the County of Berwick, is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
, Scotland
- Horton Tower, Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county at . Between its extreme points Dorset measures from east to west and north to south, and has an area of...
, England
- King Alfred's Tower
King Alfred's Tower or The Folly of King Alfred the Great is in the parish of Brewham, Somerset, and near Stourhead, Wiltshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building....
, StourheadStourhead is a 2,650 acre estate at the source of the River Stour near Mere, Wiltshire, England. The estate includes a Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, gardens, farmland, and woodland...
, Wiltshire, England
- Mow Cop Castle
Mow Cop Castle is at Mow Cop, near Harriseahead in the county of Staffordshire, England.Traces of a prehistoric camp have been found here, but in 1754, Randle Wilbraham of nearby Rode Hall built an elaborate summerhouse looking like a medieval fortress and round tower.The Castle was given to the...
, CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
, England
- National Monument
The National Monument in the city of Edinburgh is Scotland's memorial to those who died fighting for the United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars....
, EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
, ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
- Old John
Old John is a folly atop the highest hill in Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England. It was built in 1784, by the Grey family of Groby, and was originally an observation tower built to give the ladies a view of a race course which circled the top of the hill...
, Bradgate ParkBradgate Park is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, just northwest of Leicester. It covers 850 acres ....
, LeicestershireLeicestershire or , abbreviation Leics.is a landlocked county in central England. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, England
- Penshaw Monument
Penshaw Monument is a folly built in 1844 on Penshaw Hill between Washington and Houghton-le-Spring, in Tyne and Wear, North East England...
, PenshawThe village of Penshaw , formerly known as Painshaw or Pensher, is an area of the metropolitan district of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies about three miles north of Houghton-le-Spring, just over the River Wear from Washington...
, SunderlandThe City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
, England
- Perrott's Folly
Perrott's Folly, , also known as The Monument, or The Observatory, is a 29-metre tall tower, built in 1758. It is a Grade II* listed building in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England.-History:...
, BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, England
- Pope's Grotto, Twickenham
Twickenham is a town and suburb in the south west of London, England: being the principal town by population and administrative centre of the Borough of Richmond upon Thames.-Pre-Norman:...
, south west London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, England.
- Portmeirion
Portmeirion is an Italianate resort village in Gwynedd, on the coast of Snowdonia in Wales. The village is located in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, on the estuary of the River Dwyryd, south east of Porthmadog, and from the railway station at Minffordd, which is served by both the narrow...
, WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
- The Ruined Arch at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. The director is Professor Stephen D. Hopper, who succeeded Professor Sir Peter Crane...
, London
- Rushton Triangular Lodge
The Triangular Lodge is a folly, designed and constructed between 1593 and 1597 by Sir Thomas Tresham near Rushton, Northamptonshire, England. It is now in the care of English Heritage...
, Northamptonshire (16th century)
- Severndroog Castle
Severndroog Castle is a folly situated in Oxleas Wood, on Shooter's Hill in south-east London in the London Borough of Greenwich. It was designed by architect Richard Jupp in 1784....
, Shooter's HillShooter's Hill is a place, and an electoral ward in the London Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It lies east of Blackheath and west of Welling, south of Woolwich and north of Eltham...
, south-east London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
- Stowe School
Stowe School is a public school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by JF Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is currently becoming fully co-educational...
has several follies in the grounds
- Sway Tower, New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
, England
- Tattingstone Wonder
The Tattingstone Wonder is a folly at Tattingstone in Suffolk, England.Located some six miles south of Ipswich the Tattingstone Wonder was originally two cottages. In 1790 Edward White, the local squire, did not like his view of the cottages from Tattingstone Place. He decided to add a third...
, near IpswichIpswich is a non-metropolitan district and the county town of Suffolk, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe in Suffolk and Harwich and Colchester in Essex...
, SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
- The Temple near Castle Semple Loch
Castle Semple Loch is a 1.5 mile long inland loch at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Originally part of an estate of the same name, it is now administered by Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park as a watersports centre...
, RenfrewshireRenfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic Renfrewshire, also known as the County of Renfrew or Greater Renfrewshire, the other two being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, Scotland.
- Wainhouse tower
Wainhouse Tower is a folly in the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire in England. At , it is the tallest structure in Calderdale and the tallest folly in the world, and was erected in just 4 years between 1871-1875...
, the tallest folly in the world, HalifaxHalifax is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece Hall...
, England
- Wentworth Follies
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, 606 ft long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 240 rooms and...
, WentworthWentworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,223.- History :...
, South YorkshireSouth Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and the city of Sheffield...
- Williamson's tunnels
Williamson Tunnels consist of a labyrinth of tunnels in the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, England which were built under the direction of the eccentric businessman Joseph Williamson between the early 1800s and 1840. They remained derelict, filled with rubble and refuse, until archaeological...
, probably the largest underground folly in the world, LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
- McCaig's Tower
McCaig's Tower is a prominent folly on the hillside overlooking Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a circumference of about 200 metres with two-tiers of 94 lancet arches .The structure was...
, Oban, Argyle and Bute, Scotland.
United States
- Belvedere Castle
Belvedere Castle sits upon Vista Rock, the second highest natural elevation in Central Park, New York City. It was designed as an additional feature of the Central Park "Greensward" plan by Calvert Vaux and the sculptor Jacob Wrey Mould, when the team of Olmsted, Vaux and Mould were reappointed to...
, New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
- Lawson Tower
Lawson Tower is a historic tower off First Parish Road in Scituate Center, Massachusetts.The tower was built in 1902 and added to the National Historic Register in 1976....
, Scituate, MassachusettsScituate is a small seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod Bay midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 17,863 at the 2000 census....
- Lucy the Elephant
Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant-shaped architectural folly constructed of wood and tin sheeting in 1882 by James V. Lafferty in Margate City, New Jersey, two miles south of Atlantic City, in an effort to sell real estate and attract tourism.-Zoomorphic architecture:The idea of an...
, Margate City, New JerseyMargate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 8,193.Margate City was originally incorporated as the borough of South Atlantic City by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 7, 1885, from portions of Egg Harbor...
- Bishop Castle
Bishop Castle is a one-man construction project situated in the Rocky Mountains of Southern Colorado in the San Isabel National Forest located by Rye, Colorado. The castle is named after its constructor, Jim Bishop.- History :...
, outside of Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was estimated to be 104,951 in 2008, making it the 245th most populous city in the United States....
- Körner's Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
Kernersville is a town in Forsyth County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 17,126 at the 2000 census. In 2007 the U.S. Census estimated the town's population at 22,309. Kernersville is located at the heart of the Piedmont Triad metropolitan area, which consists of the cities...
See also
- :Category:Folly buildings
- Grotto
A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
- Folly Fellowship
The Folly Fellowship is a not for profit organisation set up in 1988 as a pressure group to protect, preserve and promote awareness of Britain’s follies, grottoes and garden buildings. It organises trips throughout the year to follies and holds an annual garden party at a follied garden where the...
- Novelty architecture
Novelty architecture is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes as a novelty, such as advertising, notoriety as a landmark, or simple eccentricity of the owner or architect. Many examples of novelty architecture take the form of buildings that...
- Boondoggle
The term boondoggle, in the sense of a project that wastes time and money, first appeared during the Great Depression in the 1930s, referring to the millions of jobs given to unemployed men and women to try to get the economy moving again, as part of the New Deal...
External links