Folly map

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Interesting source of information, the ones that I knew of, local to me, are listed on there and now I know a bit more about them:)
 
Just had a further look, via Google Earth and this, in Essendon High Street is not shown, you recon it rates as a Folly? Up to about a year or so ago it was derelict with no door, (the fencing is new as well), another chance for an explore missed:(
EssendonHighStreet.jpg
 
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Thanx for the gen Oldscrote !!! I was only saying t'other day that i found it unbelievable that a database for follies didn't exist !!! How wrong was i !!:p
 
Depends on the definition of a folly I guess.

Sadly there are a number of glaring errors in this otherwise interesting reference, a fair number of memorials being included. Whilst I have some sympathy for a bloody great uninscribed edifice way out in the wilds being wrongly identified, there is no excuse for including clearly inscribed memorials that are situated in Churchyards or Burial Grounds.

To take but one example, which is local to me - Bramhope Memorial situated in the graveyard of Otley Parish Church is a memorial to the 23 Navvies who were killed during the construction of the Bramhope Tunnel. The memorial is two, approx 1/5 scale models of the North Portal of the tunnel, built back to back. It is a large and imposing structure, but it is certainly not a folly and was never intended to be one.
 
a folly

What is a folly?

How do you define an architectural folly? There's no simple definition. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as:
"A popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder,"

while Chambers' Dictionary says:

"a great useless structure, or one left unfinished, having been begun without a reckoning of the cost."


But that doesn't begin to hint at the wealth of variety and ingenuity to be discovered in the world's follies. Many of them are used, many of them are finished, some of them were even built with one eye on the balance sheet - what links them all is a joyous unpredictability.

If a building makes you stop, and scratch your head, and ask yourself "Why?", then unless it is a seat of government there is a good chance that it is a folly.

Showing you a picture of one is useless (although further into this site you will discover some wonderful photographs of follies) because the next one you see will almost certainly be totally different. A folly is in the eye of the beholder, wrote Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp in their definitive guide to the follies of Britain: Follies Grottoes and Garden Buildings.

There is only one real rule - true follies are unconscious creations, and the real folly builder will deny that what he or she has created could possibly be a folly. You cannot build one deliberately. Only other people can bestow the title of Folly on your monstrous erection. It's like having a title - you may call yourself a prince but you know in your heart your royal aspirations would not be recognised by the Almanack de Gotha.

This problem of definition can and has been debated for years. In the end, a folly is essentially a misunderstood building.

the way i though of a folly, it was built for the fun of someone.
 

The application of modern day semantics have only served to cloud the issue here. The association of the word 'folly' with expenditure and use, whether impractical or not, of the building/structure should never be used in descriptive text of a landscape enhancing structure or building

Architectural follies in their true sense were certainly not 'unconscious creations'. They are in fact the very opposite. Their size, shape, location and interaction with the surrounding landscape were all very carefully thought out by their designer - the objective being to draw the viewer's eye into the landscape or to enhance a particular line of sight. One should also not be mislead by the knowledge that a number of these structures were built to give employment to local inhabitants, yes they were, but their position in the surrounding landscape was always a carefully planned affair.

Sadly for the modern viewer, the landscape that the the owner and designer viewed the structures in is no longer there in many cases - being drastically altered over the ensuing years. I know of two crenellated ruinous towers sitting on bare grassy hillsides, when originally built they jutted out of the dense canopy of hardwood forests. The trees were felled during WW1 and deaths of the respective estate's heirs during the war, meant the estates were broken up and the forests never replanted.

These structures will certainly be misunderstood if one views them in present day context. Imagine one's self standing with the landowner and designer and seeing what they saw, only then can you fully understand the reasoning behind these structures. Also never let the issue of £.s.d cloud the issue - yes one needed the stuff to build these structures, but to apply modern day attitudes to bragging about wealth and showing it off in public does nothing to explain the 'why' about these structures.
 
Hi all
after seeing this thread about the folly map I thought I would join and introduce myself as I am "the guy" that produces the map for the Folly Fellowship.
The debate as to what a folly is will go on for ever as I think a lot of it is in the individuals interpretation of the word.
My personal thought is that something that has "folly" in its building classes as a folly and not just the standard definition as something built for no purpose whatsoever like a tower on top of a hill. I have included things like the aformentioned Bramhope Memorial as whilst it has purpose as a memorial it also has folly in its building in its unusual appearance (compared to what you would class as a "normal" memorial)
Where do you draw the line? unusual Masoleums, temples etc all have purpose but also folly.
I suppose I am working against you all by revealing the exact locations of buildings, but I wont reveal some like Colins Barn. but on the other hand its not that hard to find places, for example theres a thread on here about a folly near Hereford that I haven't got on the map, 10 mins of googling and research and i had it pinpointed .Hopefully we wont clash in our oposite tasks of revealing or keeping places secret.
I,ve always had a passion for old derelict places so hopefully theres "room" for me here.
Paul
 

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