architecture, belvedere, East Riding of Yorkshire, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, landscape, Summerhouse, Temple, Tower

Carnaby Temple, Boynton Hall, near Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire

‘An ill-treated folly’, wrote folly supremo Barbara Jones of the Carnaby Temple in 1953. The late 18th century landscape ornament, on high land above Boynton Hall, was by then disused and dilapidated, but remarkably intact considering the years of neglect. And so it remains.

Photos of the folly from Barbara Jones’s research files. No date or photographer noted, but probably early 1970s when she was updating ‘Follies and Grottoes’. Courtesy of a private collection.

The temple was built in the early 1770s by Sir George Strickland, 5th Bart (1729-1808) of Boynton Hall near Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The design is attributed to John Carr of York, who worked at Boynton in this period. Contemporary accounts note that it was called the Temple of Aeolus, or the temple of the winds, after the original in Athens, but Barbara Jones thought it had ‘absolutely no resemblance to it’. That’s perhaps a little harsh, as the tower is octagonal in form, and the lantern was originally topped with a weather-vane, but it does not carry the carved decoration so admired in Athens. The name may have been partly in homage to the antique, but was probably also an erudite family joke, as the site is exposed to the winds coming in off the North Sea. The name did not stick and the building became known as the Carnaby Temple, or just ‘the temple’.

The basement housed a kitchen, and the upper floor was a ‘beautiful Octagon room’ with extensive views of the Boynton estate and out to sea. The Strickland daughters decorated the room with Grecian figures after the antique. Transparent figures, painted onto tissue paper, decorated the windows, and the furniture featured figures cut from black paper or drawn in Indian ink. The walls were painted with trophies, foliage, and grotesque heads in oil paint, and one visitor in 1801 thought she had never seen a room ‘so completely pleasing’. Sadly, no trace remains today.

The pleasure house was used for picnics, and as a retreat for the ladies of the house. It was also a belvedere with an extensive vista across the Wolds and Bridlington Bay – the reverse view also became important and ‘Carnaby Temple’ soon became an official landmark for mariners.

The tower was originally surrounded by a freestanding arcade, but this was gone by the middle of the 19th century when the temple was extended to form a dwelling for workers on the estate: the census returns show families living there until early in the 20th century. It was a popular attraction, and visitors walked across the fields to explore the curious structure visible from the road. In 1890 one group of ramblers were disappointed to find it had been converted into a labourer’s cottage and ‘with a sigh for its departed grandeur’ retraced their steps.

Rough sketch of the temple by Barbara Jones. Courtesy of a private collection.

By the time Barbara Jones was researching the temple for the 2nd edition of Follies and Grottoes in 1972, the temple had been sold by the Boynton estate, and the new owner was said to be ‘not really interested in it’. Raymond Fieldhouse, a Scarborough historian and artist, wrote to Jones about the temple : ‘I think it will stand for years deteriorating only gradually’. He was spot on: the temple does indeed still stand strong, and creates a very picturesque backdrop to the nearby farm’s giant muck heap (bottom).

In 1975 a campaign began to get the temple restored. There was support from the Bridlington MP The Rt Hon Richard Wood, as well as from the Georgian Society for East Yorkshire and the Bridlington Civic Society. The owner, Mr Watts, was keen to see it restored, and offered to lease it to a charitable body for a ‘v small rent’, but he was understandably reluctant to meet the substantial costs of renovation himself. The Landmark Trust was approached in 1975, but it declined to take the building on.

Francis Johnson’s proposal for converting the temple into a holiday home, undated but 1977. Image © Francis Johnson & Partners, Bridlington and in the collection of Hull University Archives at Hull History Centre, U DFJ/759.

Things dragged on, and in April 1978 the local authority, the Borough of North Wolds, served Watts with a Repairs Notice. By this stage the Bridlington-based architectural practise of Francis Johnson and Partners had been asked to help, and in 1977 Francis Johnson had drawn up plans to convert the temple into a holiday home. As he wrote ‘if they got the place in order they could get a good little rental for holiday use every summer. In any case it is far better to have the building in use than merely standing idle with consequent inevitable deterioration’. But Johnson remained sceptical, and ended the letter ‘We shall see’.

And as we can indeed see, only essential repairs to protect the building from vandals and the elements were carried out. There is still potential to restore the temple for residential use, and just think how fertile the garden would be…

The temple is on private land, but stands beside a public footpath.

Although the Carnaby Temple plans did not come to fruition, Francis Johnson & Partners has designed or restored many lovely garden buildings. You can see a selection here https://www.francisjohnson-architects.co.uk/projects/garden-buildings/

Please scroll down to the comments section if you would like to share any thoughts on the Carnaby Temple. Thank you for reading.

 

 

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10 thoughts on “Carnaby Temple, Boynton Hall, near Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire”

  1. garance anna Rawinsky says:

    Not only are your articles fascinating, but the links you give are highly educational, especially for this southerner who has found refuge in Yorkshire.
    Thank you for the Johnson link, so now I know… and most impressed by the Orangery moved to Sledmere, with embellishments and ornamentation in Coade Stone.
    I think it fair to say the Folly Flaneuse is running a Saturday School for rather more than ramblings.

    1. Editor says:

      Thank you Garance. I’m pleased you enjoy learning about the north, but I am hoping that my ramblings can now take me further afield. We Flâneuses suffer acutely from wanderlust!

  2. Gwyn says:

    Although I confess that as a Tower of the Winds obsessive I tend to see it in every eight-sided building, I must disagree with the great Barbara Jones in this instance. “Absolutely no resemblance” is simply wrong. Carnaby Temple has the same shape and the same proportions as the TOTW; only the roof differs. It was built in the early 1770s when James Stuart and Nicholas Revett had just caused a major stir with their ‘Antiquities of Athens’ which introduced the TOTW to an appreciative British audience, resulting in fine replicas at Mount Stewart (c.1784), Shugborough (c.1765) and West Wycombe (c.1770), to name but three. It’s improbable that Sir George and John Carr (who would have been alert to the latest fashion trends) were unaware of these epigones sprouting up. Such a shame that the Landmark Trust have ignored this lovely folly. Great images as always, Flâneuse!

    1. Editor says:

      Agreed. And very much looking forward to your book on wind. Thanks for your compliments on the images. I am lucky to have friends old and new who generously help me out

  3. Paul Weldrick says:

    The earl of Boynton brought turkeys to Britain. He also planted many of the woods in the area, for the turkeys to roost. However the trees blocked his view so the main reason for the folly was so he could see his turkeys been driven to the harbour in Bridlington.

    1. Editor says:

      Yes, it is said that a member of the Strickland family introduced turkeys to Britain, and as you will know the turkey is on the family crest. But the tower was not built until centuries later, so that bit of the story is a myth. Thank you for getting in touch.

      1. Paul Weldrick says:

        Cool

  4. George says:

    This structure has a bit of personal history. My father was born in Carnaby Temple. My grandfather was a farmworker and the family lived in The Temple. I have a photograph of two family members standing in the doorway. The windows are open with the curtains blowing in the breeze. It’s nice to see the building ‘alive’ and in use in contrast to its subsequent deterioration.

    1. Editor says:

      Good morning George thanks for sharing your family history. It’s lovely to think of the temple as a home rather than the sad structure it is today. If you would be happy for me to use your photo please email me. Thanks again.

      1. George says:

        Thank You for acknowledging my entry and thank you for the offer but I would prefer not to put this heirloom into public domain as it has family members who are sadly no longer with us. However, to give you a perspective, my father was born in The Temple in 1928 and became the eldest child in a large family, as was quite usual in those days. I believe that other members of my family may have some other photos, and I recall a newspaper clipping from The Hull Daily Mail when they ran a story on The Temple, I believe in the 1970s. I came upon your website whilst looking for information on Carnaby in general and I thank you for helping to preserve our history.

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