• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Architectural Follies (Odd Ornamental Buildings Or Structures)

Leith Hill tower on the Greensand Ridge in Surrey is another nice folly. The hill is the highest point for miles around but just short of 1000 ft so the landowner built the tower to take it over 1000.

Built 1765. The square part I think is original, the slimmer higher tower was built in 1864 to allow access to the roof after the original fell into disrepair & was filled with concrete. The National Trust took over the grounds & spent 60 years to dig out the concrete & restore the interior rooms. There's now a cafe on the ground floor.

From the top it's reputedly possible to see 14 counties & the clock face of the palace of Westminster.

File:Leith Hill Tower from south-west.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
 
The Black Castle, Brislington, Bristol. Full details on Wikipedia.

blackcastle1.jpgblackcastle2.jpg

I also discovered I had pictures of the other fortified Bristol folly, Blaise Castle, in parkland in the Henbury suburb. More on Wikipedia.

blaisecastle1.jpgblaisecastle2.jpg

I find it interesting the city should possess two castle follies when its real castle, apparently one of the largest Norman keeps in the country, has long been little more than a memory, courtesy first of Oliver Cromwell, then redevelopment, and finally the Blitz.
 
The house of teeth!
https://metro.co.uk/2021/07/08/man-...JnNQsPLvD1X28SI7alna6wZE6CVA53uQvUC8TvIJVmL9o

SEI_86510359.jpg
Man finds 18th century ornamental building made of teeth at bottom of his garden – 25 years after he moved in

For over two decades, John Bostock had no idea that hidden beneath the wild section of his garden, there was a gothic folly dating back to the mid-1700s.

It was only as he prepared to move from his house in in Edgbaston, Birmingham and decided to tidy the section up that he found the 12ft ornate brick structure decorated with oyster shells, bones and teeth from cows and sheep. ...
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Crooked House of Windsor in Windsor , England .
The history of the Crooked House of Windsor begins in 1592 with the construction of 'Market Cross House ' on the edge of Windsor's market square .
In 1687 the council ordered the building to be torn down in order to make room for the neighbouring Guildhall .What followed next was some primetime seventeenth century legal drama over land rights, in which the council was rebuked for destroying Market Cross House , and ordered to rebuilt it just the way it was . To rebuilt it as quickly and as cheaply as possible ,was the decision which gave the Crooked House it's famed lean. Building with unseasoned green oak , rather than a sturdier wood , meant that once the wood dried out , it buckled rather noticeably, and hardenet into the shape you see today .
The Crooked House of Windsor has been a butcher's shop ,a brewery ,and an antique shop.
For a time, it was known as the oldest tea house in England .

acrookedhouse.jpg
 
Miniature ‘Little Italy’ uncovered in N. Wales

An amazing 'little Italy' with around 200 statues, buildings and other pieces of art has been found hidden in undergrowth in north Wales.

Everywhere there are iconic Italian buildings, from Florence’s Duomo to Venice’s Rialto Bridge and a Venetian canal that was possibly once filled with running water.

At the last count, around 200 “objects” had been unearthed – not just buildings but statues, plaques and curios as well. Before conservation work began, a few years ago, only around 30 structures were known.
Mark Bourne and wife Muriel created the site as shrine to Italian architecture, on the outskirts of Corris, between Dolgellau and Machynlleth.

Over 25 years, Mr Bourne carted thousands of buckets of water and ballast from the Afon Deri in the valley below, to be mixed with concrete to make mortar. An underpowered Datsun 4x4 and trailer did some of the heavy lifting but, for the final stretch, up though the garden, muscle and brawn was needed.

“This guy spent 25 years carrying hundreds of tonnes of concrete, water and ballast up a hillside with a slope that ranges from 30 to 45 degrees,”

For now, the site is off-limits. “Mark Bourne meant the site to be seen,” he said. “I don’t think he wanted it hidden away – that’s why it was built on a hillside that was originally visible from the main road below. Drivers used to slow down to see it.”
Click to expand...
1685791341439.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top