Folly

thumbnail|[[Broadway Tower, Worcestershire|Broadway Tower, Worcestershire, England]]

thumb|The [[Dunmore Pineapple in Scotland (attributed to William Chambers)]]

thumb|Built in 1912, the [[Swallow's Nest is one of the Neo-Gothic châteaux fantastiques in Crimea.]]

thumb|Modern reconstruction of the Turkish Tent, a permanent structure at [[Painshill, Surrey]]

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-century English landscape gardening and French landscape gardening often featured mock Roman temples, symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies imitated Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined medieval castles, abbeys, 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, 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 the builder", the Oxford English Dictionarys definition. Follies are 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, an extremely expensive early Gothic Revival 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

thumbnail|right|[[Castle in Hagley Park|Hagley Castle is in the grounds of Hagley Hall. It was built by Sanderson Miller for George, Lord Lyttelton in the middle of the 18th century to look like a small ruined medieval castle.]]

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. 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 pagodas, Japanese bridges, and Tatar 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

thumb|Roman ruin, [[Schönbrunn Palace|Schönbrunn, Austria]]

thumb|Small [[Gloriette of Schönbrunn Palace]]

Follies are found worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in Great Britain.

Australia

Eastlink hotel, in Victoria

Austria

Roman ruin and gloriettes, in the park of Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

Belgium

Hassenspark toren in the Hassenspark in Vilvoorde, Flemish Brabant

Canada

Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario

Czech Republic

thumb| The [[minaret in the Lednice–Valtice Complex, Czech Republic, was built by the House of Liechtenstein between 1797 and 1804.]]

Series of buildings in Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Chinese Pavilions in chateau gardens in Vlašim, Děčín Krásný Dvůr

France

Chanteloup Pagoda, near Amboise
Désert de Retz, folly garden in Chambourcy near Paris, France (18th century)
Parc de la Villette in Paris has a number of modern follies by architect Bernard Tschumi.
The Ideal Palace of Ferdinand Cheval in Hauterives, seen as an example of naive architecture.
Hameau de la Reine, in the park of the Château de Versailles
The Grottoes of Ferrand, in Saint-Hippolyte, Gironde

Germany

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe water features
Lighthouse in the park of Moritzburg Castle near Dresden
Mosque in the Schwetzingen Castle gardens
Pfaueninsel artificial ruin, Berlin
Ruinenberg near Sanssouci Park, Potsdam

Hungary

Bory Castle at Székesfehérvár
Taródi Castle at Sopron
Vajdahunyad vára in the City Park of Budapest

India

Overbury's Folly, Thalassery, Kerala
Rock Garden of Chandigarh

Ireland

thumb|upright|[[Conolly's Folly, County Kildare, Ireland, built to provide employment in the Irish famine of 1740–41]]

Ballysaggartmore Towers, County Waterford
Carden's Folly
Casino at Marino
Conolly's Folly and The Wonderful Barn on the same estate
The Corrig Spire in Portarlington, County Laois
Killiney Hill, with several follies
Larchill in County Kildare, with several follies
Powerscourt Estate, which contains the Pepperpot Tower
Saint Anne's Park, which contains a number of follies
Saint Enda's Park, former school of Patrick Pearse, contains several follies
The Jealous Wall at Belvedere House near Mullingar, County Westmeath
Waterloo Round Tower near Blarney, County Cork

Italy

La Scarzuola, Montegabbione
The Park of the Monsters (Bomarzo Gardens)
Il Giardino dei Tarocchi near Capalbio

Jamaica

Three follies were built on Folly Estate, Port Antonio, in 1905. They are now in ruins.

Malta

thumb|upright|[[Lija Belvedere Tower in Malta]]

Lija Belvedere Tower

Poland

thumb|upright|[[Temple of the Sibyl in the grounds of the Czartoryski Palace in Puławy, Poland]]

Roman aqueduct, Arkadia, Łowicz County
Temple of the Sibyl in Puławy

Romania

Iulia Hasdeu Castle

Russia

Ruined towers in Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina, and Tsaritsino
Creaking Pagoda and Chinese Village in Tsarskoe Selo
Dutch Admiralty in Tsarskoe Selo

Spain

thumb|[[El Capricho, in Comillas, Spain]]

El Capricho, Comillas (Cantabria)

Ukraine

thumb|Classical ruins in [[Oleksandriia Park in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine]]

Ruins in Oleksandriia, Bila Tserkva

United Kingdom

England

File:RushtonTriangularLodge.jpg|Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire, England, built in the late 16th century to symbolise the Holy Trinity

File:Wimpole folly (1).jpg|Wimpole's Folly, Cambridgeshire, England, built in the 1700s to resemble Gothic-era ruins

File:The Beacon Staunton Country Park.JPG|The Beacon: One of the remaining follies at Staunton Country Park originally commissioned by George Thomas Staunton and designed by Lewis Vulliamy

</gallery>

Scotland

The Caldwell Tower, Lugton, Renfrewshire
Captain Frasers Folly (Uig Tower) Isle of Skye
Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk
Hume Castle, Berwickshire
Kinnoull Hill Tower, Perth
McCaig's Tower, Oban, Argyll and Bute
National Monument, Edinburgh
Shaw Monument, Prestwick
The Temple near Castle Semple Loch, Renfrewshire

Wales

thumb|[[Paxton's Tower, Carmarthenshire]]

Clytha Castle, Monmouthshire
Derry Ormond Tower, Ceredigion
Folly Tower at Pontypool
Paxton's Tower, Carmarthenshire
Portmeirion, known as the setting for several television productions including The Prisoner series
Gwrych Castle, Conwy County Borough

United States

thumb|[[Chateau Laroche, just north of Loveland, Ohio]]

Bancroft Tower, Worcester, Massachusetts
Belvedere Castle, New York City
Bishop Castle, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
Chateau Laroche, Loveland, Ohio
Coral Castle, Homestead, Florida
Hofmann Tower in Lyons, Illinois
Kingfisher Tower, Otsego Lake (New York)
Körner’s Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
Lawson Tower, Scituate, Massachusetts
Maryhill Stonehenge Memorial, Maryhill, Washington
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee
Vessel, New York, New York
Watts Towers, Watts, Los Angeles

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
Stewart, David. "Political Ruins: Gothic Sham Ruins and the '45." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 55, No. 4 (Dec. 1996), pp. 400-411.