In the grounds of Loxley Hall, near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, there once stood a very curious structure known as ‘the Grotto’ or ‘Robin Hood’s Chapel’. It incorporated fragments which had been salvaged from the mansion when it was ‘partially rebuilt’ early in the eighteenth century. According to legend, Loxley Hall was the birthplace of Robin Hood, or alternatively the spot where he wooed Maid Marian, and hence the romantic name given to this decidedly quirky garden building (this detail is from the only known view of the folly, read on to see a little more).
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Broadwoodside, near Gifford, East Lothian.
Not far from the handsome village of Gifford, in East Lothian, is Broadwoodside, a small estate centred around a restored farmstead. On the edge of woodland, and with a view to the house, stands what appears to be a Georgian temple. It has actually stood on this spot for a couple of decades, having started life as a portico added to a Scottish mansion in the Victorian period. It was moved here as a landscape feature when the mansion was remodelled in the last years of the twentieth century.
The Viewpoint, Gledswood, Scottish Borders.
Nestled in woodland above a bend in the river Tweed stands what is today known as the Gledswood estate. Close to the West, or Eagle Lodge, stands a curious stretch of wall which is topped with rough stone pinnacles and cut through with an arched opening. When first built this would have framed a view across the valley of the Tweed, but it is now blocked by mature trees.
The Follies at Cottington, Southshire: a Hermit Whodunnit.
In the late 1730s Mark Amberley, of the Cottington Place estate in Southshire, England, built a sham castle on his estate. He also built a shell-encrusted grotto, which became home to the obligatory bearded hermit dressed in brown hessian robes. The creation of these follies is detailed in the family archive of letters and diaries, which was explored by a descendant in the twentieth century.
Azerley Tower, Azerley, North Yorkshire
A little east of the hamlet of Azerley, near Kirkby Malzeard, stands a pretty little cottage with a most unusual feature – from the back of the building rises a slender castellated tower. It was built by the Crompton family of Azerley Hall as a belvedere from which the ‘prospects of the most picturesque description’ were obtained, but it also served as a vantage point to look out for poachers.
Ragged Castle, Foxley, Herefordshire.
On a wooded eminence on the Foxley Estate, Herefordshire, stands a tower that was built as a belvedere by the Price family in the first half of the eighteenth century. By the middle of the twentieth century it had fallen into disrepair, but was restored in the 1970s with the guidance of an impressive group of experts in the field.
The Hill Tower, or Lewis’s Folly, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands.
In the village with the simple name of ‘Hill’, near Sutton Coldfield in what was then Warwickshire, lived retired pawnbroker Hugh Lewis. At the time of his death in 1908, Lewis was remembered as ‘a man of very eccentric habits’ and chief amongst these were the building of a high wall around his house and the erection of a ‘Look out Tower’ on Hill Village Road – inevitably it became known as Lewis’s Folly.
Macrae’s Monument, Monkton , Ayrshire
Close to Prestwick Airport, a few miles from Ayr, a handsome monument stands on high ground. It was erected in the middle of the eighteenth century to commemorate a local boy, of very humble beginnings, who had made a fortune in the service of the East India Company. The monument came close to total collapse before, hurrah, a local campaign secured its future.
Grant’s Tower, Ramsbottom, Lancashire
Late in the eighteenth century, the Grant family lost their livelihood in their native Scotland and set out to find work in the rapidly developing industries of Lancashire. Pausing to rest on their journey they admired the ‘beautiful valley’ of the River Irwell, which reminded them of Speyside. Decades later they bought the ground, and erected this tower to commemorate that moment.
The Arch, Prince of Wales Avenue, Middleton, Essex
In 1823 the Rev. Oliver Raymond was instituted into the Rectory of Middleton, a village which although very near Sudbury in Suffolk, just sneaks over the boundary into Essex. On 9 November 1841, Queen Victoria gave birth to her first son, Albert Edward (the future Edward VII). Almost immediately he was given the title Prince of Wales, and Raymond marked the occasion by planting an avenue of trees which became known as the Prince of Wales Avenue.