Fashionable Fakery: follies and shams in the English landscape

The term 'folly' derives from the French 'folie', meaning 'foolish'. It is generally used to describe a building that has little or no function, and which pretends to be something that it is not. The building of follies was especially popular in England during the 18th and 19th centuries. They added visual interest to private estates and gardens, and were placed to 'catch the eye' of a visitor. Some were built as places to walk or ride to and were used as viewing platforms from where great estates and landscapes could be admired. Often designed to resemble historic castles or the remains of something ancient that never truly existed, follies were built in all sorts of materials, in a multitude of styles and sizes. While they suggest something impractical, extravagant and deceptive, England's follies have fascinating stories behind them, contributing to their enduring appeal. The examples presented here are illustrated with photographs from the Historic England Archive. 

Built in circa 1740, this mock-medieval archway acted as a termination to a tree-lined avenue on the edge of the Gobians pleasure ground and estate. Resembling a fortified gate with towers, battlements and slit windows, it was designed by architect James Gibbs who was also responsible for a temple facade on one of the estate's canals. One story has it that the arch was built to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century, however, it is likely that that the estate owner Sir Jeremy Sambrooke built it to commemorate a battle or military campaign. Local legend tells that a farthing coin was placed beneath every one of the bricks that forms the Folly Arch. 

The Folly at Mount Edgcumbe Park is a roofless mock ruin. It was built in 1747 as an elaborate hilltop viewing platform, replacing a navigation obelisk. It offers grand views through its upper level tracery window over the park and Plymouth Sound. Built in sandstone rubble, it also incorporates stone features from other buildings, including medieval fragments taken from the churches of St George and St Lawrence in nearby Stonehouse.

The Castle Hotel was built in 1737 as the Duchy of Lancaster Court House, later becoming a hotel and public house. It was constructed on the site of the gatehouse to Halton Castle. Situated on high ground, the castle was originally built in the late 11th century. In circa 1800 some mock castle walling was built to the east side of the hotel to make the castle appear as an eye-catcher from Norton Priory some one mile (1.6 km) away.

Surrounded by Bronze Age burial mounds, Solomon's Temple, or Grinlow Tower, stands proud in the Derbyshire Peak District. This round folly was built in 1896 on the site of an earlier building by local farmer Solomon Mycock, after whom it is named. Mycock had run a public subscription to raise funds to build the original tower and which would provide work for the unemployed of the nearby spa town of Buxton. The folly was restored in 1987 and continues to be a popular tourist attraction.  

Our final folly is Broadway Tower, one of England's most impressive. Built high on Broadway Hill it was constructed in 1798 by the architect James Wyatt for Lord Coventry of Croome Court, an estate some fifteen miles (24 km) away. Although a folly, the Tower has been well-used in its lifetime. Between 1822 and 1862 it was used by the antiquarian and book collector Sir Thomas Phillipps to house his private printing press. It was later leased by Carmel Price, an Oxford tutor. Among those who stayed there around this time were the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones and his life-long friend, the designer and activist William Morris. During the Second World War it was used by the Royal Observer Corps to track enemy aircraft. Broadway Tower continues to be a tourist destination and is particularly famed for the views that can be had - it is said that sixteen counties can be seen from its battlements!