architecture, church, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Scotland, structure, West Lothian

The Rose Walk, Jupiter Artland, near Wilkieston, West Lothian

As summer turned to autumn The Folly Flâneuse was reminded of a jolly jaunt to Jupiter Artland, a sculpture garden just outside Edinburgh, on a glorious day a year ago. A highlight was Pablo Bronstein’s Rose Walk, a pair of pavilions terminating a 25 metre long rose garden, their white-painted tracery magnificent against a clear blue sky. 

architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, landscape, Somerset, Summerhouse, Tower

The Summerhouse, Newton Surmaville, Somerset

Newton Surmaville, just outside Yeovil, was bought by the Harbin family in the early 1600s, and they immediately set about constructing a very handsome new house. Sometime in the middle of the following century they added this summerhouse on Newton Hill, high above the house, and the story locally is that it was one of a trio of towers in the area, used by their owners to flag the message that it was time to ‘gallop over for a convivial evening’. 

architecture, Belgium, Bristol, Cornwall, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Mausoleum, North Yorkshire, public park

A Sham Sepulchre in Rome, & three more at home (& a detour to Brussels)

The fact that a building in the Albano hills above Rome has been known since the 18th century as the ‘so called’ mausoleum of the Horatii and Curiatii speaks volumes: it was in fact constructed on the Appian Way centuries after the legendary rival Horatii and Curiatii triplets are said to have battled for their pride and people. But the legend and the sham sepulchre must have made an impression: back home in England it inspired at least three monuments in landscape gardens.

architecture, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, North Yorkshire, Summerhouse, Temple

The Temple, Escrick Park, North Yorkshire

The Temple at Escrick Park (historically part of the East Riding, but now in North Yorkshire) sits at the end of a ride from the mansion, which is now home to Queen Margaret’s School for girls. The garden ornament was under construction in 1812, when the steward wrote to the estate’s owner, Richard Thompson, to warn that it would not be completed in time for his upcoming visit. Thompson’s response is not recorded, but he must have been delighted with the building when it was eventually finished.

architecture, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Monument, Triumphal Arch, West Yorkshire

Independence Day: The Arch, Parlington Park, Aberford, West Yorkshire.

Parlington Park is close to Aberford, south of Wetherby, on the old Great North Road. An architectural highlight of the landscape park is this Triumphal Arch, constructed in the early 1780s to definitively declare Sir Thomas Gascoigne’s stance on the ongoing war with America. Its inscription begins LIBERTY IN N AMERICA TRIUMPHANT, an unequivocal statement that Sir Thomas was firmly on the side of the colonists. The Folly Flâneuse has written about the arch before, but is revisiting to mark the Fourth of July, Independence Day in the U.S.A., and to look at a very curious moment in the modern history of the monument.

architecture, bridge, Buckinghamshire, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Temple

Mistress Masham’s Repose: a thinly disguised Stowe

cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Dr Richard Murray - geograph.org.uk/p/886664

The rotunda at Stowe in Buckinghamshire was designed by Vanbrugh in around 1720, and stands on a sweeping lawn in front of the grand mansion. In the middle of the 20th century author T.H. White used a little artistic licence, and for the purposes of his story moved it to an island in one of the two lakes. There it became home to a colony of tiny people, and the adventure that is Mistress Masham’s Repose began.

architecture, aviary, garden, garden history, landscape, Menagerie, South Yorkshire

Wentworth Woodhouse & Bawtry Hall, South Yorkshire: birds of a feather.

There was good news in autumn 2019 with the announcement that the great Georgian estate of Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, had been awarded National Heritage Lottery funds to allow work to begin on the restoration of the Camellia House. Originally known as the Greenhouse, the building was part of a menagerie complex which housed exotic pheasants. Only 20 miles away, in Bawtry, another curious aviary has sadly not survived. 

architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, Lancashire, landscape, Observatory, Summerhouse

The Observatory, Haigh Hall, Wigan, Lancashire

On the edge of the town of Wigan stands Haigh Hall, described in 1745 as a ‘good old house and wood in a very pretty situation’. On rising ground above Haigh Hall (pronounced Hay) there once stood a substantial landscape feature which housed an observatory. A pair of paintings with an interesting history help tell the tale. 

architecture, church, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Northumberland, Rustic shelter, Summerhouse

The Sitooteries at Belsay, Northumberland: 20 Years On

One of the few upsides to the current situation is that there is time to rootle around in the attic and find all sorts of forgotten files full of treasure. Opening one box revealed this invitation to the private view of The Sitooteries, 20 years ago this month. What’s a sitooterie you may ask? Well it’s as simple as it sounds – a building to sit out in (the term is supposed to originate in Scotland, so try saying it in your best Caledonian accent).

architecture, belvedere, Cumbria, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, garden history, landscape, Summerhouse, Tower

Pepperpot, Akay, Sedbergh, Cumbria

Sedbergh sits in that part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park which is actually in modern day Cumbria, although historically the town was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. This little summerhouse now belongs to Sedbergh School, which was established in the town in 1525, and their charitable foundation recently led a restoration project to restore the building for community use.