![Dunmore pineapple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Dunmore_pineapple.jpg)
In
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
, a folly is a
building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-century
English landscape garden
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
ing and
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...
ing often featured mock
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of Ro ...
s, symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies represented
Chinese temples
Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as:
* '' miào'' () or ''di ...
,
Egyptian pyramids
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. Of ...
, ruined
medieval castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
s or
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
s, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills, and cottages to symbolise rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during times of famine, such as the
Great Famine in Ireland, were built as a form of
poor relief
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans.
In English, the term began as "a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
in the builder", the
''Oxford English Dictionary'''s definition, and were often named after the individual who commissioned or designed the project. The connotations of silliness or madness in this definition is in accord with the general meaning of the French word ""; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode". This sense included conventional, practical, buildings that were thought unduly large or expensive, such as
Beckford's Folly
Fonthill Abbey—also known as Beckford's Folly—was a large Gothic Revival country house built between 1796 and 1813 at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt. It wa ...
, an extremely expensive early
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
country house that collapsed under the weight of its tower in 1825, 12 years after completion.
As a general term, "folly" is usually applied to a small building that appears to have no practical purpose or the purpose of which appears less important than its striking and unusual design, but the term is ultimately subjective, so a precise definition is not possible.
Characteristics
![Hagley Castle (geograph 2291664)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Hagley_Castle_%28geograph_2291664%29.jpg)
The concept of the folly is subjective and it has been suggested that the definition of a folly "lies in the eyes of the beholder".
Typical characteristics include:
* They have no purpose other than as an ornament.
Often they have some of the appearance of a building constructed for a particular purpose, such as a castle or tower, but this appearance is a sham. Equally, if they have a purpose, it may be disguised.
* They are buildings, or parts of buildings.
Thus they are distinguished from other garden
ornaments
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
*Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...
such as
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
.
* 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.
* They were built or commissioned for pleasure.
History
![Stourhead Pantheon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Stourhead_Pantheon.jpg)
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 had ruins of monastic houses and (in Italy) Roman villas; others, lacking such buildings, constructed their own sham versions of these
romantic structures.
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
![Erm11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Erm11.JPG)
Follies (french: fabriques) were an important feature of the
English garden
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
and
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...
in the 18th century, such as
Stowe
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
and
Stourhead
Stourhead () is a 1,072-hectare (2,650-acre) estate at the source of the River Stour in the southwest of the English county of Wiltshire, extending into Somerset. The estate is about northwest of the town of Mere and includes a Grade I listed ...
in England and
Ermenonville
Ermenonville () is a commune in the Oise department, northern France. Ermenonville is notable for its park named for Jean-Jacques Rousseau by René Louis de Girardin. Rousseau's tomb was designed by the painter Hubert Robert, and sits on the Isl ...
and the
gardens of Versailles
The Gardens of Versailles (french: Jardins du château de Versailles ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover som ...
in France. They were usually in the form of Roman temples, ruined Gothic abbeys, or Egyptian pyramids.
Painshill Park
Painshill (also referred to as "Pains Hill" in some 19th-century texts), near Cobham, Surrey, England, is one of the finest remaining examples of an 18th-century English landscape park. It was designed and created between 1738 and 1773 by Charle ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
contained almost a full set, with a large Gothic tower and various other Gothic buildings, a Roman temple, a
hermit's retreat with resident hermit, a Turkish tent, a shell-encrusted water grotto and other features. In France they sometimes took the form of romantic farmhouses, mills and cottages, as in
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
's
Hameau de la Reine
The Hameau de la Reine (, ''The Queen's Hamlet'') is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette in 1783 near the Petit Trianon in Yvelines, France. It served as a private meeting place for the Queen and h ...
at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as
Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
and
Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert (22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux. ...
. Often, they had symbolic importance, illustrating the virtues of ancient Rome, or the virtues of country life. The temple of philosophy at Ermenonville, left unfinished, symbolised 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, including Chinese
pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
s, Japanese bridges, and
Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different tents.
Famine follies
The
Great Famine of Ireland of 1845–1849 led to the building of several follies in order to provide relief to the poor without issuing unconditional handouts. 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 included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points, screen and estate walls, piers in the middle of bogs, etc.
Examples
![Small_Gloriette_-_Sch%C3%B6nbrunn_Palace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Small_Gloriette_-_Sch%C3%B6nbrunn_Palace.jpg)
Follies are found worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
.
Australia
*
Eastlink hotel, in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
Austria
* Roman ruin and
gloriette
A gloriette (from the 12th-century French ''gloire'' meaning "little room") is a building in a garden erected on a site that is elevated with respect to the surroundings. The structural execution and shape can vary greatly, often in the form ...
s, in the park of
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Schönbrunn ; Central Bavarian: ''Schloss Scheenbrunn'') was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning “beautiful spring”) has its root ...
,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
Canada
*
Dundurn Castle
Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835.
The forty-room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighti ...
in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
Czech Republic
![Minaret in Lednice - se stromy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Minaret_in_Lednice_-_se_stromy.JPG)
* Series of buildings in
Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape
The Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (also Lednice–Valtice Area or Lednice–Valtice Complex, cs, Lednicko-valtický areál) is a cultural-natural landscape complex of in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It comprises the mu ...
(UNESCO
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
)
* Chinese Pavilions in chateau gardens in
Vlašim
Vlašim (; german: Wlaschim) is a town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vlašim is known for its castle and English style park.
Administrative parts
Villages of Bolina, D ...
,
Děčín
Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area.
Administrative parts
D ...
Krásný Dvůr
Krásný Dvůr (german: Schönhof) is a municipality and village in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically kn ...
France
*
Chanteloup Pagoda, near
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away f ...
*
Désert de Retz The Désert de Retz is a garden on the edge of the forêt de Marly in the commune of Chambourcy, in north-central France. It was created at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville on his estate. The architect Bo ...
, folly garden in
Chambourcy
Chambourcy () 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''. "Chambourcy", forme ...
near
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(18th century)
*
Parc de la Villette
The Parc de la Villette is the third-largest park in Paris, in area, located at the northeastern edge of the city in the 19th arrondissement. The park houses one of the largest concentrations of cultural venues in Paris, including the Cité de ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
has a number of modern follies by architect
Bernard Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French-S ...
.
*
Ferdinand Cheval
Ferdinand Cheval (19 April 1836 – 19 August 1924), often nicknamed Facteur Cheval ("Mail Carrier Cheval") was a French mail carrier who spent 33 years building Le Palais idéal (the "Ideal Palace") in Hauterives, in southeastern France. in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, built what he called an Ideal Palace, seen as an example of naive architecture.
*
Hameau de la Reine
The Hameau de la Reine (, ''The Queen's Hamlet'') is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette in 1783 near the Petit Trianon in Yvelines, France. It served as a private meeting place for the Queen and h ...
, in the park of the
Château de Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
* The
Grottoes of Ferrand
The Grottoes of Ferrand ( French: ''Grottes de Ferrand'') are a series of 17th-century artificial grottoes on the estate of the Château de Ferrand in Saint-Hippolyte, Gironde, in southwestern France, near the town of Saint-Émilion.
Carved out ...
, in
Saint-Hippolyte,
Gironde
Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...
Germany
*
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe is a landscape park in Kassel, Germany. The area of the park is , making it the largest European hillside park, and second largest park on a hill slope in the world. Construction of the ''Bergpark'', or "mountain park", bega ...
water features
* Lighthouse in the park of
Moritzburg Castle
Moritzburg Castle (german: Schloss Moritzburg) or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden. The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical art ...
near
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
* Mosque in the
Schwetzingen Castle
Schwetzingen Palace is a schloss in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Schwetzingen was the summer residence of the Electors Palatine Charles III Philip and Charles IV Theodore (of the House of Wittelsbach). It is situated in Schwetzingen, ...
gardens
*
Pfaueninsel
Pfaueninsel (, "Peafowl, Peacock Island") is an island in the River Havel situated in Berlin-Wannsee, in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in southwestern Berlin, near the border with Potsdam in Brandenburg. The island is part of the Palaces a ...
artificial ruin,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
*
Ruinenberg
The Ruinenberg is a hill in the Bornstedt borough of Potsdam, located north of Sanssouci Park. In 1748, the Prussian king Frederick the Great had a water tank with a capacity of around built on top to supply the Sanssouci water features, and had ...
near
Sanssouci Park
Sanssouci Park is a large park surrounding Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Germany, built under Frederick the Great in the mid-1700s. Following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, the surroundings were included in the stru ...
,
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
Hungary
* Bory Castle at
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...
* Taródi Castle at
Sopron
Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő.
History
Ancient times-13th century
When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...
*
Vajdahunyad vára in the
City Park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
of
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
India
*
Overbury's Folly,
Thalassery
Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karna ...
,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
*
Rock Garden of Chandigarh
The Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a sculpture garden for rock enthusiasts in Chandigarh, India. It is also known as Nek Chand Saini's Rock Garden of Nathupur after its founder Nek Chand Saini, a government official who started building the ga ...
Ireland
![Conollys_Folly_-_the_obelisk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Conollys_Folly_-_the_obelisk.jpg)
*
Ballysaggartmore Towers
Ballysaggartmore Towers are two ornate entrance lodges (one also acts as a bridge) that are situated on the former Ballysaggartmore Demesne approx 2.5 kilometres from the town of Lismore in County Waterford, Ireland. The structures are consider ...
,
County Waterford
County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...
*
Carden's Folly
*
Casino at Marino
The Casino at Marino is a small summer or pleasure house, located in Marino, Dublin, Ireland. Sometimes erroneously described as a folly, it was designed by Scottish architect William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont ...
*
Conolly's Folly
The Conolly Folly ( ga, Baois Uí Chongaile), a.k.a. The Obelisk, is an obelisk structure located between Celbridge, Leixlip and Maynooth in County Kildare, Ireland. It was built in the mid-18th century by the Conolly family, then owners of the ...
and
The Wonderful Barn
The Wonderful Barn is a corkscrew-shaped building on the edge of Castletown House Estate, formerly of the Conolly family, in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. The barn itself is formally in neighbouring Leixlip.
Structure
Flanked by two small ...
on the same estate
*
Killiney Hill
Killiney Hill ( ga, Cnoc Chill Iníon Léinín) is the southernmost of the two hills which form the southern boundary of Dublin Bay, the other being Dalkey Hill. These two hills form part of Killiney Hill Park.
Crowned by a monument, Killiney Hil ...
, with several follies
*
Larchill
Larchill is the most complete surviving ferme ornée (ornamental farm-style garden) in Europe and the site of multiple follies. The main component of Larchill Demesne, it was created in the mid-18th century, and restored in the mid-1990s. It l ...
in
County Kildare
County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...
, with several follies
*
Powerscourt Estate
Powerscourt Estate ( ga, Eastát Chúirt an Phaoraigh), located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its country house, house and landscaped gardens, today occupying . The house, originally a 13th ...
, which contains the Pepperpot Tower
*
Saint Anne's Park
Saint Anne's Park ( ga, Páirc Naomh Áine) is a public park situated between Raheny and Clontarf, suburbs on the northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is owned and managed by Dublin City Council.
The park, the second largest municipal park in Dub ...
, which contains a number of follies
*
Saint Enda's Park, former school of
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...
, contains several follies
*
The Jealous Wall at
Belvedere House near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
Italy
*
La Scarzuola,
Montegabbione
Montegabbione is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about southwest of Perugia and about northwest of Terni.
Montegabbione borders the following municipalities: Fabro, Ficulle, Monteleone ...
* The
Park of the Monsters
The Sacro Bosco ("Sacred Grove"), colloquially called Park of the Monsters (Parco dei Mostri in Italian), also named Garden of Bomarzo, is a Mannerist monumental complex located in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, in northern Lazio, Italy.
Th ...
(Bomarzo Gardens)
*
Il Giardino dei Tarocchi near
Capalbio
Jamaica
![Pulawy swiatynia sybilli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Pulawy_swiatynia_sybilli.jpg)
* Three follies were built on Folly Estate, Port Antonio, in 1905. They are now in ruins.
[Follies Magazine #108, "My Folly Folly Folly: a Jamaican Journey"]
Malta
*
Lija Belvedere Tower
The Lija Belvedere Tower, officially Torri Belvedere, is a belvedere in Lija, Malta. It was built in the 19th century as a folly within a private garden, and it is now located on a roundabout.
History
The belvedere tower was built in 1857 as a f ...
Poland
* Roman aqueduct,
Arkadia, Łowicz County
Arkadia () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Nieborów, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately east of Łowicz and north-east of the regional capital Łódź.
The village has a ...
*
Temple of the Sibyl
The Temple of the Sibyl (in Polish, ''Świątynia Sybilli'') is a colonnaded round monopteral temple-like structure at Puławy, Poland, built at the turn of the 19th century as a museum by Izabela Czartoryska.
History
The "Temple of the Siby ...
in
Puławy
Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,417 ...
Romania
*
Iulia Hasdeu Castle
The Iulia Hașdeu Castle is a folly built in the form of small castle by historian and politician Bogdan Petriceicu Hașdeu in the city of Câmpina, Romania. Work on it began in 1893, after Hasdeu's daughter, Iulia Hasdeu, died at the age of 1 ...
Russia
* Ruined towers in
Peterhof,
Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...
,
Gatchina
The town of Gatchina ( rus, Га́тчина, , ˈɡatːɕɪnə, links=y) serves as the administrative center of the Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which ...
, and
Tsaritsino
*
Creaking Pagoda
The Creaking Pagoda (Скрипучая беседка), also known as the Chinese Summer House (Китайская беседка), is a small summer house located between two ponds in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia. It stands in on the boundary separat ...
and
Chinese Village
The Chinese Village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo, Russia was Catherine the Great's attempt to follow the 18th-century fashion for the Chinoiserie.
Probably inspired by a similar project in Drottningholm, Catherine ordered Antonio ...
in Tsarskoe Selo
*
Dutch Admiralty in Tsarskoe Selo
Spain
![El Capricho Gaudí 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/El_Capricho_Gaud%C3%AD_02.jpg)
*
El Capricho
El Capricho is a villa in Comillas (Cantabria), Spain, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It was built in 1883–1885 for the summer use of a wealthy client, Máximo Díaz de Quijano. Unfortunately the client died a year before the house was completed.
...
,
Comillas
Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle ...
(
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
)
Ukraine
![Oleksandriia Park in Bila Tserkva](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Oleksandriia_Park_in_Bila_Tserkva.jpg)
* Ruins in
Oleksandriia
Oleksandriia () is a city located in Oleksandriia Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Administratively, Oleksandriia serves as the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion (district). Oleksandriia also hosts the administrat ...
,
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...
United Kingdom
![The Beacon Staunton Country Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/The_Beacon_Staunton_Country_Park.JPG)
England
Scotland
* 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 Ro ...
,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...
* Captain Frasers Folly (
Uig Tower) Isle of Skye
*
Dunmore Pineapple Dunmore from the ga, Dún Mór, link=no or gd, Dùn Mòr, link=no, meaning "great fort", may refer to:
People
* Dunmore (surname)
* Earl of Dunmore, a title in the Peerage of Scotland, includes a list of earls
* Countess of Dunmore (disambiguat ...
,
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
*
Hume Castle
'
, partof =
, location = Hume, Berwickshire, Scotland
, image = Hume Castle - geograph.org.uk - 812984.jpg
, image_size =
, caption =
, map_type = Scotland Scottish Borders
, map_size =
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Shown within Scotland Scot ...
,
Berwickshire
Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...
*
Kinnoull Hill Tower,
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
*
McCaig's Tower
McCaig's Tower, also known as McCaig's Folly, is a prominent tower on Battery Hill overlooking the town of Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a ...
,
Oban
Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...
, Argyll and Bute
*
National Monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a spec ...
,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
*
Shaw Monument,
Prestwick
Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...
* The Temple near
Castle Semple Loch
Castle Semple Loch is a 1.5-mile-long (2.5 km) inland freshwater 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. ...
,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...
Wales
![Paxton's Tower - Carmarthenshire (5369178381)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Paxton%27s_Tower_-_Carmarthenshire_%285369178381%29.jpg)
*
Clytha Castle,
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
*
Derry Ormond Tower,
Ceredigion
Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
*
Folly Tower A folly tower is a tower that has been built as an architectural folly, that is, constructed for ornamental rather than practical reasons.
Folly towers are common in Britain and Ireland, and often do have some practical value as landmarks, or as vie ...
at
Pontypool
Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970.
Location
It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...
*
Paxton's Tower
Paxton's Tower is a Neo-Gothic folly erected in honour of Lord Nelson. It is situated on the top of a hill near Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is a visitor attraction that can be combined with a visit to the nea ...
,
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...
*
Portmeirion
Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the com ...
*
Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle ( cy, Castell Gwrych meaning "hedged castle") (Originally spelt as 'Gwrŷch') is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The castle and 236 acre estate are owned by a charity, an ...
,
Conwy County Borough
Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, ...
United States
![Loveland Castle (9)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Loveland_Castle_%289%29.jpg)
*
Bancroft Tower
Bancroft Tower is a natural stone and granite tower, which looks like a miniature feudal castle. It is located in Salisbury Park, in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. The folly was erected in 1900, in memory of Worcester native politician, hi ...
,
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
*
Belvedere Castle
Belvedere Castle is a folly in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. It contains exhibit rooms, an observation deck, and since 1919 has housed Central Park’s official weather station.
Belvedere Castle was designed by Calvert Vaux and Jac ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
*
Bishop Castle
Bishop Castle is an "elaborate and intricate" "one-man project" named after its constructor, Jim Bishop, that has become a roadside attraction in central Colorado.
The "castle" is located in south central Colorado on State Highway 165 in the ...
, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
* Chateau Laroche, Loveland, Ohio
* Italian Barge, Villa Vizcaya, Miami, Florida
* Kingfisher Tower, Otsego Lake (New York)
* Lawson Tower, Scituate, Massachusetts
* Coral Castle, Homestead, Florida
* Summersville Lake Lighthouse, Mount Nebo, Nicholas County, West Virginia, Mount Nebo, West Virginia
* Parthenon (Nashville), The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee
* Hofmann Tower in Lyons, Illinois
* Vessel (structure), Vessel, New York, New York
* Watts Towers, Watts, Los Angeles
* Körner’s Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
See also
*List of garden features
*
English garden
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
*Folly Fellowship
*
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...
*Garden hermit
*Goat tower
*Grotto
*Novelty architecture
*Ruin value
References
Bibliography
*Barlow, Nick et al.
Follies of Europe', Garden Art Press, 2009,
*Barton, Stuart ''Monumental Follies'' Lyle Publications, 1972
*Folly Fellowship, The ''Follies Magazine'', published quarterly
*Folly Fellowship, The ''Follies Journal'', published annually
*Folly Fellowship, The ''Foll-e'', an electronic bulletin published monthly and available free to all
*Hatt, E. M. ''Follies'' National Benzole, London 1963
*Headley, Gwyn ''Architectural Follies in America'', John Wiley & Sons, New York 1996
*Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, ''Follies — A Guide to Rogue Architecture'', Jonathan Cape, London 1990
*Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, ''Follies — A National Trust Guide'', Jonathan Cape, London 1986
*Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, ''Follies Grottoes & Garden Buildings'', Aurum Press, London 1999
*Howley, James ''The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland'' Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1993
*Jackson, Hazelle ''Shellhouses and Grottoes'', Shire Books, England, 2001
*Jones, Barbara ''Follies & Grottoes'' Constable, London 1953 & 1974
*Meulenkamp, Wim ''Follies — Bizarre Bouwwerken in Nederland en België'', Arbeiderpers, Amsterdam, 1995
External links
*
{{Authority control
Folly buildings,
Landscape garden features
Landscape design history
Building types