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 , symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies imitated Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined , , or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills and cottages, to symbolise rural virtues.[Yves-Marie Allain, Janine Christiany, L'art des jardins en Europe, Citadelles & Mazenod, Paris, 2006.] 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 in the builder", the OED's definition.[Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989, vol VI, p4, "Folly, 5".] 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 folie; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode".[" ... and many French houses are still named "La Folie"" – OED.] 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
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:
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They have no purpose other than as an ornament.
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They are buildings, or parts of buildings.
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They are purpose-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments.
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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.
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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.
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They were built or commissioned for pleasure.
History
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 that followed. Many estates had ruins of monastic houses and (in Italy) Roman villas; others, lacking such buildings, constructed their own sham versions of these
Romanticism 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 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
Follies () were an important feature of the
English garden and French landscape garden in the 18th century, such as Stowe and
Stourhead in England and
Ermenonville and the gardens of Versailles in France. They were usually in the form of Roman temples, ruined Gothic abbeys, or Egyptian pyramids.
Painshill Park in
Surrey contained almost a full set, with a large Gothic tower and various other Gothic buildings, a Roman temple, a
Garden 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's Hameau de la Reine at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as
Claude Lorrain and
Hubert Robert. 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 , Japanese bridges, and Tatars tents.[Yves-Marie Allain and Janine Christiany, L'art des jardins en Europe, Citadelles & Mazenod, Paris, 2006.]
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.
[Howley, James. 1993. The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland. New Haven: Yale University Press. ]
Examples
Follies are found worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in
Great Britain.
Australia
Austria
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Roman ruin and , in the park of Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
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Series of buildings in Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
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Chinese Pavilions in chateau gardens in Vlašim, Děčín Krásný Dvůr
France
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Chanteloup Pagoda, near Amboise
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Désert de Retz, folly garden in Chambourcy near Paris, France (18th century)
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Parc de la Villette in Paris has a number of modern follies by architect Bernard Tschumi.
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The Ideal Palace of Ferdinand Cheval in Hauterives, seen as an example of naive architecture.
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Hameau de la Reine, in the park of the Château de Versailles
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The Grottoes of Ferrand, in Saint-Hippolyte, Gironde
Germany
Hungary
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Bory Castle at Székesfehérvár
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Taródi Castle at Sopron
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Vajdahunyad vára in the City Park of Budapest
India
Ireland
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Ballysaggartmore Towers, County Waterford
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Carden's Folly
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Casino at Marino
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Conolly's Folly and The Wonderful Barn on the same estate
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The Corrig Spire in Portarlington, County Laois
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Killiney Hill, with several follies
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Larchill in County Kildare, with several follies
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Powerscourt Estate, which contains the Pepperpot Tower
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Saint Anne's Park, which contains a number of follies
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Saint Enda's Park, former school of Patrick Pearse, contains several follies
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The Jealous Wall at Belvedere House near Mullingar, County Westmeath
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Waterloo Round Tower near Blarney, County Cork
Italy
Jamaica
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Three follies were built on Folly Estate, Port Antonio, in 1905. They are now in ruins.
[http://images.library.wisc.edu/DLDecArts/EFacs/HomeDesign/hdv09n01/reference/dldecarts.hdv09n01.i0022.pdf See photos: "A Seat Shaded from the Tropic Sun" (and water tank), "A Summer House on the Hill" (with no walls), "The Bridge and Pavilion".][Follies Magazine #108, "My Folly Folly Folly: a Jamaican Journey"]
Malta
Poland
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Roman aqueduct, Arkadia, Łowicz County
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Temple of the Sibyl in Puławy
Romania
Russia
Spain
Ukraine
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
Scotland
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The Caldwell Tower, Lugton, Renfrewshire
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Captain Frasers Folly (Uig Tower) Isle of Skye
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Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk
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Hume Castle, Berwickshire
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Kinnoull Hill, Perth
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McCaig's Tower, Oban, Argyll and Bute
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National Monument, Edinburgh
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Shaw Monument, Prestwick
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The Temple near Castle Semple Loch, Renfrewshire
Wales
United States
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Bancroft Tower, Worcester, Massachusetts
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Belvedere Castle, New York City
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Bishop Castle, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
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Coral Castle, Homestead, Florida
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Hofmann Tower in Lyons, Illinois
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Kingfisher Tower, Otsego Lake (New York)
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Körner’s Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
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Lawson Tower, Scituate, Massachusetts
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Newman's Castle, Bellville, Texas
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The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee
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Vessel, New York, New York
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Watts Towers, Watts, Los Angeles
See also
Bibliography
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Barlow, Nick, et al. Follies of Europe, Garden Art Press, 2009,
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Barton, Stuart. Monumental Follies Lyle Publications, 1972
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Folly Fellowship, The. Follies Magazine, published quarterly
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Folly Fellowship, The. Follies Journal, published annually
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Folly Fellowship, The. Foll-e, an electronic bulletin published monthly and available free to all
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Hatt, E. M. Follies National Benzole, London 1963
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Headley, Gwyn. Architectural Follies in America, John Wiley & Sons, New York 1996
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Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim. Follies — A Guide to Rogue Architecture, Jonathan Cape, London 1990
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Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim. Follies — A National Trust Guide, Jonathan Cape, London 1986
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Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim., Follies Grottoes & Garden Buildings, Aurum Press, London 1999
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Howley, James. The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1993
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Jackson, Hazelle. Shellhouses and Grottoes, Shire Books, England, 2001
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Jones, Barbara. Follies & Grottoes Constable, London 1953 & 1974
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Meulenkamp, Wim. Follies — Bizarre Bouwwerken in Nederland en België, Arbeiderpers, Amsterdam, 1995
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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.
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