Folly - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, a folly is a building

Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs. In the original use of the word, these buildings had no other use, but from the 19th to 20th centuries the term was also applied to highly decorative buildings which had secondary practical functions such as housing, sheltering or business use.

18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening

French landscape garden

The 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...

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. Many follies, particularly during famine, such as the Irish potato famine, were built as a form of poor relief

Poor relief

Poor Relief refers to any actions taken by either governmental or ecclesiastical bodies to relieve poverty experienced by a population. More specifically, the term poor relief is often used to discuss how European countries dealt with poverty from the time just around the end of the medieval era to...

, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans.

General properties

The concept of the folly is highly ambiguous and it has been suggested that the definition of a folly "lies in the eyes of the beholder".At best some general guidelines can be produced all of which have exceptions.

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 buildings, or parts of buildings. Thus they are distinguished from other garden ornaments such as sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

.
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.

What follies are not

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
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 tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....

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
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.-Definition:...

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. Some works (such as the massive complex by Ferdinand Cheval
Ferdinand Cheval
Ferdinand Cheval was a French postman who spent thirty-three years of his life building Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives...

) 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
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

s, fairgrounds
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...

, and expositions
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...

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.

History

Follies began as decorative accents on the great estates of the late 16th century and early 17th century 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

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

structures.

In English, such structures came to be called follies: " a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder" according to one authority, 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 "folie"; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode"

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

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...

, 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 garden

English garden

The English garden, also called 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. The...

and French landscape garden

French landscape garden

in the 18th century, such as Stowe and Stourhead

Stourhead

Stourhead 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 Ermenonville

Ermenonville

Ermenonville is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.Ermenonville is notable for its park named for Jean-Jacques Rousseau by René Louis de Girardin...

and the gardens of Versailles

Gardens of Versailles

The Gardens of 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 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. Painshill Park

Painshill Park

Painshill Park , 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 the Hon. Charles Hamilton .Painshill Park is owned by Elmbridge Borough Council and managed by the Painshill Park...

in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

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, among other features. In France they sometimes took the form of romantic farmhouses, mills and cottages, as in Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....

's Hameau de la Reine at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as Claude Lorrain

Claude Lorrain

Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, , dit le Lorrain) Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French...

and Hubert Robert

Hubert Robert

Hubert Robert , French artist, was born in Paris.His father, Nicolas Robert, was in the service of François-Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville a leading diplomat from Lorraine...

. Often, they had symbolic importance, illustrating the virtues of ancient Rome, or the virtues of country life. The temple of philosophy at Ermenonville

Ermenonville

, 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, including 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 worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in Great Britain. See also :Category:Folly buildings.

France

Chanteloup Pagoda, near Amboise
Amboise
Amboise is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. It lies on the banks of the Loire River, east of Tours. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court...
Désert de Retz
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, in north-central France. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville on his estate...

, folly garden in Chambourcy
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....

near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

(18th century)
Parc de la Villette
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 suburban department of Seine-Saint-Denis.-History:...

in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, 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 Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi
Bernard 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
Ferdinand Cheval was a French postman who spent thirty-three years of his life building Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives...

in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, built what he called an Ideal Palace, seen as an example of naive architecture.
Hameau de la reine, in the park of the Château de Versailles

Hungary

Bory Castle at Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary and is the 9th largest in the country. Located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 101,973 people , with 136,995 in the Székesfehérvár Subregion. The city is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia...
Taródi Castle at Sopron
Sopron
In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...
Vajdahunyad vára
Vajdahunyad Castle
Vajdahunyad Castle, or Vajdahunyad-vár, is a castle in City Park, Budapest, Hungary, that was built between 1896 and 1908, designed by Ignác Alpár...

in the City Park
City Park (Budapest)
Városliget 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 Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

India

Overbury's Folly
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....

, Thalassery
Thalassery
Thalassery , also known as Tellicherry, is a city on the Malabar Coast of Kerala, India. This is the second largest city of North Malabar in terms of population. The name Tellicherry is the anglicized form of Thalassery. Thalassery municipality has a population just less than 100,000. Established...

, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

Ireland

Carden's Folly
Devil's Bit
The Devil's Bit is a mountain in North Tipperary, Ireland which is 478m above sea level at its highest elevation. It lies to the north-west of the town of Templemore. The mountain is usually ascended via the village of Barnane...
Casino at Marino
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
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
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 Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...

, with several follies
St Anne's Park
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
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, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina
Gatchina
Gatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...

, and Tsaritsino
Creaking Pagoda
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 Village
Chinese Village (Tsarskoe Selo)
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....

in Tsarskoe Selo
Dutch Admiralty
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
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 a cost of over £80,000 The Ashton Memorial is a folly in Williamson Park, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and...

, Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, 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 towns, including...

, England
Beckford's Tower
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....

, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England
Broadway Tower
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 Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are 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...

, England
Bettisons Folly
Bettisons Folly
Bettisons Folly is a tower in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is also referred to as Bettisons Tower and the Forgotten Folly, it was built some time between 1829 and 1853 by William Bettison....

, Hornsea
Hornsea
Hornsea 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.-Overview:According to the 2001 UK Census, Hornsea parish had a population of 8,243....

, England
Black Castle Public House
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...

, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, England
Brizlee Tower
Brizlee Tower
Brizlee Tower is a Grade 1 listed folly tower set atop a hill in Hulne Park, the walled home park of the Duke of Northumberland in Alnwick, Northumberland...

, Northumberland
The Cage at Lyme Park
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...

, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England
The Castle at Roundhay Park
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...

, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, England
Clavell Tower
Clavell Tower
Clavell Tower, also known as Clavell Folly or the Kimmeridge Tower, is a Grade II listed Tuscan style tower built in 1830. 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.-History:...

, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England
Clytha Castle
Clytha Castle
Clytha Castle is a folly near Clytha between Llanarth and Raglan in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. One of the two "outstanding examples of late eighteenth century fanciful Gothic in the county","this stupendous folly enjoys magnificent views to the mountains of the North West, Skirrd and Sugar...

Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
The Caldwell Tower, Lugton
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...

, Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, Scotland.
Dunmore Pineapple
Dunmore Pineapple
The Dunmore Pineapple is a folly said to "rank as the most bizarre building in Scotland." It is situated in Dunmore Park, approximately one kilometre northwest of Airth and the same distance south of Dunmore in the Falkirk council area, Scotland...

, Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....

, Scotland
Faringdon Folly, Faringdon
Faringdon
Faringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...

, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
Flounder's Folly
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...

, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England
The Folly Tower
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 Pontypool
Pontypool
Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey — also known as Beckford's Folly — was a large Gothic revival country house built around the turn of the 19th century at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt...

, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West 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...

, England
The Forbidden Corner, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, England
Fort Belvedere, Surrey
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. It...

, England
Freston Tower
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 Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk 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...
Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare is a small garden folly erected in 1756 on the north bank of the River Thames at Hampton, London. It was built by the actor David Garrick to honour the playwright William Shakespeare, whose plays Garrick performed to great acclaim throughout his career...

, Hampton
Gothic Tower at Goldney Hall
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.-House:...

, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
The Great Pagoda at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

, London¨
Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle is a Grade I listed 19th century country house near Abergele in Conwy county borough, North Wales.-History:Gwrych Castle was erected between 1819 and 1825 at the behest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh, grandfather of Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald. From 1894 until 1924,...

, one of Europe's largest follies, Abergele, North Wales
Hadlow Tower, Hadlow, Kent, England
Hawkstone Park
Hawkstone Park
Hawkstone Park is an historic landscape park with pleasure grounds and gardens formerly belonging to Hawkstone Hall, near to Market Drayton, in Shropshire, England, UK, one mile east of the A49 road....

, follies and gardens in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England
Hume Castle
Hume Castle
Hume Castle is the heavily modified remnants of a late 12th or early 13th century "Castle of enceinte".The village of Hume is located between Greenlaw and Kelso, two miles north of the village of Stichill, in Berwickshire, Scotland....

. Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire 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
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England
King Alfred's Tower
King Alfred's Tower
King Alfred's Tower or The Folly of King Alfred the Great is in the parish of Brewham, Somerset, and was built as part of the celebrated Stourhead estate and landscape. The tower stands on Kingsettle Hill and nowadays belongs to the National Trust...

, Stourhead
Stourhead
Stourhead 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
Mow Cop Castle is a folly 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...

, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England
National Monument
National Monument, Edinburgh
The National Monument of Scotland, popularly referred to as Scotland's Disgrace, the Pride and Poverty of Scotland or Edinburgh's Shame, is an unfinished building on Calton Hill in Edinburgh...

, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland 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
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 Park
Bradgate Park
Bradgate Park is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, just northwest of Leicester. It covers 850 acres . The park lies between the villages of Newtown Linford, Anstey, Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves and Swithland. The River Lin runs through the park, flowing into Cropston...

, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. 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
Penshaw Monument is a folly built in 1844 on Penshaw Hill between the districts of Washington and Houghton-le-Spring, within the City of Sunderland, North East England...

, Penshaw
Penshaw
The 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...

, Sunderland
City of Sunderland
The 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
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:...

, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England
Pope's Grotto, Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...

, south west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England.
Portmeirion
Portmeirion
Portmeirion is a popular 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....

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
Racton Monument
Racton Monument
Racton Monument is a folly situated on a hill in Racton, West Sussex, England. It was commissioned by the 2nd Earl of Halifax, possibly as a summerhouse for the nearby Stansted Estate, though an alternative theory suggests it could have been constructed so the Earl could watch his merchant ships...

, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

, England.
The Ruined Arch at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

, London
Rushton Triangular Lodge
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
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 Hill
Shooter's Hill
Shooter's Hill is a district and electoral ward in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. It lies east of Blackheath and west of Welling, south of Woolwich and north of Eltham...

, south-east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Sham Castle
Sham Castle
Sham Castle is a folly in Bathampton overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. It is a screen wall with a central pointed arch flanked by two 3-storey circular turrets, which extend sideways to a 2-storey square tower at each end of the wall.It was probably...

, Bathwick Hill, Bath, Somersethttp://www.bathintime.co.uk/image.php?id=262674&idx=14&fromsearch=true
Two of the follies in Staunton Country Park
Staunton Country Park
Staunton Country Park is a listed Regency landscaped parkland and forest encompassing approximately in Hampshire, England.An ornamental farm, ornamental lake, follies, maze, walled garden and glasshouses can be found within it...

have survived until the present day
Stowe School
Stowe School
Stowe School is an independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by J. F. Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group...

has several follies in the grounds
Sway Tower, New Forest
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
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 Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk 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
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...

, Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, Scotland.
Wainhouse tower
Wainhouse tower
Wainhouse Tower is a folly in the parish of King Cross, on the south west side of Halifax, Calderdale West Yorkshire in England. At , it is the tallest structure in Calderdale and the tallest folly in the world, and was erected in four years between 1871-1875...

, the tallest folly in the world, Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has 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...

, England
Wentworth Follies
Wentworth Woodhouse
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, long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 365 rooms and covers an...

, Wentworth
Wentworth, South Yorkshire
Wentworth 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 Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South 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 City of Sheffield...
Williamson's tunnels
Williamson's tunnels
The 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 19th century and 1840. They remained derelict, filled with rubble and refuse, until...

, probably the largest underground folly in the world, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool 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
Wilder's Folly
Wilder's Folly
Wilder's Folly is a folly and dovecote at Nunhide, near the village of Sulham in the English county of Berkshire.- History :...

, Sulham
Sulham
Sulham is a village in the English county of Berkshire. The larger village of Tidmarsh is adjacent to Sulham on the west side. The two villages share the combined parish council of Tidmarsh with Sulham...

, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England
McCaig's Tower
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

Bancroft Tower
Bancroft Tower
Bancroft Tower, is a 56 foot high natural stone and granite tower, which looks like a miniature feudal castle. It is located in Salisbury Park, in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. It was errected in 1900, in memory of George Bancroft. The tower was designed by Earle and Fischer, . The cost...

, Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
Belvedere Castle
Belvedere Castle
Belvedere Castle is a building in Central Park in New York, New York, that contains exhibit rooms and an observation deck.-Early history:Built as a Victorian folly in 1869, the castle caps Vista Rock, the park's second-highest natural elevation Constructed of Manhattan schist quarried in the park...

, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Bishop Castle
Bishop Castle
Bishop Castle started as a family construction project situated in the Wet Mountains of Southern Colorado in the San Isabel National Forest located North West of Rye, Colorado...

, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
Cabazon Dinosaurs
Cabazon Dinosaurs
Cabazon Dinosaurs, also referred to as Claude Bell's Dinosaurs, are enormous, sculptured roadside attractions located in Cabazon, California and visible to the immediate north of Interstate 10. The site features Dinny the Dinosaur, a 150-ton building shaped like a larger-than-life-sized...

, Cabazon, California
Cabazon, California
Cabazon is a census-designated place in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2010 census, up from 2,229 at the 2000 census.-History:...
Italian Barge, Villa Vizcaya
Villa Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...

, Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
Körner's Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
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...
Lawson Tower
Lawson Tower
Lawson Tower is an historic tower built in the style of a European castle turret. It is located off First Parish Road in Scituate Center, Massachusetts, United States....

, Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 18,133 at the 2010 census....
Lucy the Elephant
Lucy the Elephant
Elephant hotel redirects here. For the National Historic Landmark located in Somers, New York, see Elephant Hotel.Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant-shaped example of novelty architecture, constructed of wood and tin sheeting in 1882 by James V...

, Margate City, New Jersey
Margate City, New Jersey
Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 6,354.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...

Australia

Ballandean Pyramid
Ballandean Pyramid
The Ballandean Pyramid is a stone pyramid near the small village of Ballandean, Queensland, Australia. The pyramid is approximately 15 metres in height and built from blocks of the local granite. Not to be confused with the nearby natural rock formations known as the Pyramids in the Girraween...

Ballandean, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
Big Bridge at the entrance to Peter Warren Cars at Warwick Farm, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Big Banana
Big Banana
The Big Banana is a tourist attraction in the city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, featuring a large walk-through banana. Banana-related products are shown or sold, and the grounds of the building are a banana plantation, a souvenir shop and restaurant...

, Coff's Harbour New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
The Golden Guitar
Golden Guitar
The Big Golden Guitar is one of the many "big" attractions that can be found around Australia. Located in Tamworth, New South Wales, the monument is one of the best-known points of interest in New England New South Wales...

Tamworth, New South Wales
Tamworth, New South Wales
Tamworth is a city in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel River, Tamworth, which contains an estimated population of 47,595 people, is the major regional centre for southern New England and in the local government area of Tamworth Regional Council. The city...