Folly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Folly (disambiguation).
In architecture, a folly is an extravagant, useless, or fanciful building, or a building that appears to be something other than what it is.
The term comes from the fact that such structures have often been dubbed "[name of architect or builder]'s Folly", in the sense of foolishness or madness.
Follies are usually found in parks or large grounds of houses and stately homes; they may sometimes have been deliberately built to look partially in ruins. They were especially popular from the end of the 16th century to the 18th century.
Contents |
[edit] Famine Follies
The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49 led to the building of innumerable follies. Britain's prevalent political tone of the day held that laissez faire, not a welfare state, was the appropriate form of civil management. As such, distribution of aid to those in need was seen as wrong. However, to hire the needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, "famine follies" came to be built extensively. These include: roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points; Piers in the middle of bogs; etc. [Howley, James. 1993. The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-05577-3]
[edit] Examples
[edit] Australia
- The Big Pineapple, Nambour, Queensland.
- Kryal Castle, Ballarat, Victoria
[edit] Britain
- Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, England
- The Folly Tower at Pontypool, Wales
- Freston Tower, near Ipswich, Suffolk
- Severndroog Castle, Shooter's Hill, south-east London
- Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire (16th century)
- Stowe School, several follies in the grounds
- The Ashton Memorial, Lancaster, England
- Broadway Tower, The Cotswolds, England
- Hawkstone Park, follies and gardens in Shropshire, England
- King Alfred's Tower, Stourhead, Wiltshire, England
- Williamson's tunnels, probably the largest underground folly in the world, Liverpool, England
- Flounder's Folly, Shropshire, England
- Beckford's Tower, Somerset, England
- National Monument, Edinburgh, Scotland
- The Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk, Scotland
- McCaig's Tower, Oban, Scotland
- Penshaw Monument, Penshaw, Sunderland
- Portmeirion, Wales
- Watkins' Tower, London
- Bettisons Folly, Hornsea, England
- Sway Tower, New Forest, England
- Old John, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
- Faringdon Folly, Faringdon, Oxfordshire
- Wentworth Follies, Wentworth, South Yorkshire
- "The Cage" at Lyme Park
- Peckforton Castle
- Perrott's Folly, Birmingham, England
[edit] Canada
[edit] France
- 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.
[edit] Germany
- Neuschwanstein Castle in Hohenschwangau, Bavaria
- The mosque-like pumping station at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam.
[edit] India
[edit] Ireland
[edit] Italy
- The Bomarzo Gardens
[edit] Russia
- Ruined towers in Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina, and Tsaritsino
- La Chapelle, Peterhof
- Creaking Pagoda and Chinese Village in Tsarskoe Selo
- Dutch Admiralty in Tsarskoe Selo
[edit] Ukraine
- Swallow's Nest near Yalta.
[edit] United States
- Belvedere Castle, Central Park, New York
- Ypsilanti Water Tower, Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Big Duck, Flanders, New York
- Lucy the Elephant, Margate City, New Jersey
- The Longaberger Company Headquarters, Newark, Ohio
- Peachoid Water Tower, Gaffney, South Carolina
- Shell Service Station, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California
- Bishop Castle, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
- Körner's Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Follies in the English Landscape
- Follies and Monuments - A comprehensive catalogue of Follies within the UK
- Images of follies on Odd-stuff!
- European Follies - Book to be published 2007
- The Folly Fellowship- An organization which celebrates architectural follies.
- Kasimira’s Castle, Wichita, Kansas (Photo of "Lady Kasimira", with her castle)fr:Fabrique de jardin
