In 1953 Barbara Jones published Follies & Grottoes, a ‘handsome book on a fascinating subject’. It was the first book to look at follies in any depth, and was well-received. Almost twenty years later it was announced that there would be a revised edition, for whilst the first edition was remembered as a pioneering book, it was ‘not a comprehensive survey’. Upon publication in November 1974 (fifty years ago this week) the new edition was judged ‘double the size and more than twice as good’.
Constable & Co. commissioned the first edition after Jones and Ralph Arnold, one of the directors of the publishing house, had become friends – Arnold had given Jones one of her first jobs in illustration in 1938. In February 1953 Bookseller magazine announced that ‘Barbara Jones has completed her long-expected work on Follies and Grottoes – a blend of melancholy, horror, genial extravagance and elegant conceits’.
In 1972 Jones was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship to allow her to ‘revise and extend’ two of her books: The Unsophisticated Arts (1951) and Follies and Grottoes. The funding allowed her to travel across the nation to revisit follies and explore the many new ones which she had been made aware of since 1953. The book was originally to be published in 1973 and Constable & Co. plugged it as forthcoming in November 1972, but Jones had so much new material to work with that it would be November 1974 before the book was in the shops. It was priced at a then substantial £10: the reviewer for the Birmingham Daily Post wrote that the ‘mammoth’ book was ‘surely the last word on the subject’* with the caveat ‘as it should be at that price’.
One criticism of the 1st edition was the paucity of images, with Clough Williams-Ellis in The Spectator describing Jones’s ‘rather scratchy sketches’ as ‘starvation rations’. As well as including more follies, the 2nd edition also featured many more illustrations, although all are printed in black and white. These were mainly by Jones herself, but there are a handful by artist friends such as Mary Adshead (above), James Gardner, Bill Howell and Raymond Fieldhouse. Reviewing the new edition for the Times Literary Supplement, Julian Barnes summed up what Jones had achieved: ‘It is wholly thanks to Barbara Jones that the wider public knows about, let alone cares about, the towers, ruins, grottoes, tunnels, and other architectural oddities which adorn the countryside’.
Follies & Grottoes was featured in The Times in November 1974 as one of their recommendations of ‘Lovely presents for lovely people’, and the article was illustrated with one of Jones’s ‘dramatic ink drawings’: a view of the conical folly at Barwick Park (above). The Scotsman gave the book a mention, clearly delighted to find the Pineapple at Dunmore on the cover of the new edition.
Follies & Grottoes has long been out of print, so look out for a second-hand copy if it isn’t already on your bookshelves.
*Apparently not.
Thank you for reading. Please scroll down to the foot of the page to share any thoughts or comments.
James says:
I remember buying my first copy (my only copy) from RIBA in London (this was long before the internet, but it would have been the second edition) It was my ‘go to’ Bible of Follies and Grottoes (until Gwyn’s book came along) filled with wonderful illustrations!
Sadly Barbara had long since passed away but, as a young student, this filled me with enthusiasm and excitement, with a longing to visit just some of the many follies she mentioned.
Editor says:
Hello James. I didn’t know about Barbara Jones until I read about her work in Gwyn and Wim’s book. I rushed out to buy a copy and must have got one of the last copies before it went out of print. It is fair to say I have been a huge fan of Miss Jones ever since (and of Gwyn and Wim too, of course).
Simon Pearce says:
I enjoyed the “Apparently not”. Hopefully your delightful surveys will find their way into print.
Editor says:
Good morning Simon. I’m glad you appreciated the ‘apparently not’ comment. But those of us who have followed in Barbara’s footsteps to explore follies are forever in her debt.
John Davies says:
Well done for honouring a great book, but also for giving the under-appreciated Barbara Jones some more exposure. I can’t agree with Clough Williams-Ellis that her drawings are ‘sketchy starvation rations’! Very unfair. Thanks for another good Saturday morning read.
Editor says:
Thanks John. I too disagree with Clough W-E’s assessment of BJ’s work. I think she can express so much in just a few lines – really capturing the spirit of a folly.
Julia Colver says:
Well, I know I’ve mentioned this to you before, and I’ve not been the only one. Fifty years on, surely it’s time for the Folly Flaneuse to compile the definitive updated book on Follies and Grottoes? Your perfect prose and immaculate imagery cry out for a modern take on these fabulous follies and what remains of them. Put me on the list for a signed copy!
Editor says:
Good afternoon Julia. First, thanks for your ongoing support – you were one of my earliest subscribers and I really appreciate that. I can’t pretend that a book is imminent, but I do constantly think of how it might happen one day.
Edward Mirzoeff says:
I have looked in secondhand bookshops but failed, so far, to find it.
Barbara Jones did an entertaining turn in 1966 on “Choice”, a TV consumer programme I produced for BBC1 in those long-ago days. It examined the cost of funerals, and Barbara Jones looked wittily at shrouds, commenting on them as if at a fashion show. My Head of Department found it ghoulish and wanted to cut it out, but I refused. Fortunately the audience was amused rather than outraged.
Editor says:
Hello Edward. This sounds wonderful fun and I’m pleased you fought to keep it in the broadcast. I’ve heard a recording of Barbara speaking, but never seen her on film. Thanks for sharing this story.
J St Brioc Hooper says:
Abebooks.co.uk seems to have a copy for sale at only £35.00 if you are still interested, Edward.
Adrian Fisher says:
I’m still looking forward to your visit to The Maze House in Durweston, where two Follies await your gaze. I’ve been flying drones in the skies of England, France and America this summer, so more great aerial photos, should you wish to consider them for your next book.
Editor says:
Hello Adrian. I haven’t forgotten your kind invitation. I would love to see your follies, and hope to visit early next year.
Moira Garland says:
More enlightening rambles from you, editor, which I continue to enjoy even if I cannot travel to the edifices themselves. I look forward to more follies and garden and landscape ornaments.
Thank you.
Editor says:
Thank you Moira. I hope you continue to enjoy ‘travelling’ to see these quirky structures via these posts. I appreciate your support.
Eric Kellerman says:
I was a great fan of Barbara Jones’ folly books and tramped many a wet field in search of the buildings she described in the 1974 F&G. In 1975, thanks to a mutual acquaintance, I was able to visit Barbara Jones at her home in Well Walk. With her permission, I taped our conversation in order to provide some authentic listening materials for my Dutch students. We talked mainly about follies, and I also took a photo of her. Somewhere in the house, I will have that recording and photo but I would have to do a lot of digging to find them now. An shortened version of that conversation somehow or other became part of the listening test for the Dutch equivalent of the English Language A-level exam!
Editor says:
Hello Eric. It is wonderful to hear how a discussion about follies with Barbara Jones became part of the Dutch education system! I hope you can dig out the recording one day. Meanwhile, your interview was transcribed and published in the magazine of the Folly Fellowship in 1993, when a special commemorative issue was dedicated to Barbara Jones. The magazine (number 16) is available free to view on the Folly Fellowship’s website