In 1828 Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny, built a tower on high ground at Eridge Castle, on the extensive Nevill Estate in East Sussex, close to the border with Kent. The elegant tapering tower was both belvedere with ‘magnificent’ prospect and eye-catcher. It echoed the architecture of the multi-turreted mansion begun in about 1787 with work continuing well into the nineteenth century. After falling into decay the tower found a new purpose in the last years of the twentieth century.

In October 1828 the newspapers reported that the Earl of Abergavenny (1755-1843) had recently completed work on a tower which stood fifty feet high on Saxonbury Hill. A number of the earl’s friends had been invited to climb the stone staircase to the viewing platform to admire the panorama.

All of the best folly towers compete to have a view over the most counties or landmarks, and in the case of the Eridge tower the boast was that sixteen parish churches could be seen.

A year after it was built the ‘Saxonbury Tower’, as it had been named, was noted in a guide to the fashionable spa town of Tunbridge Wells, a few miles away. No architect is recorded, but archives reveal the builder was J. Card and the total cost was £295. Above the door is the date 1828 and the initials HA for Henry Abergavenny. No architect is named, but it was most likely John Montier of Tunbridge Wells, who was described as ‘the Earls Architect’ when he died in 1837.

In 1862 William Nevill, 4th Earl of Abergavenny (1792-1868), decided to add a flagpole to the tower, but once it was in place he was unhappy with the proportions and decided to increase the height of the tower. £120 was spent on raising the tower by 21 feet until it stood 67 feet tall. The flagstaff stood a further 34 feet high and the finishing touch was a huge flag bearing the Nevill arms which was hoisted whenever the earl and his family arrived at Eridge. Both of the postcards shown here date from after this work was completed.

The tower stands on the site of a ‘military station of the Saxon invaders’ from which it takes its name. The ancient remains were well known, which might account for a misunderstanding in 1878 when, at a mere 50 years young, the turret was described as the tower ‘from which the Nevills of old, in more troublous times, kept watch and ward as far as the eye could reach.’

The ‘conspicuous object’ was admired by visitors and was illuminated to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. It became more prominent still in 1888 when it was limewashed (since faded/peeled). The deer who were described as ‘quietly browsing the scene’ presumably took themselves off elsewhere on the evening of Queen Victoria’s 80th birthday in 1899, when the fireworks set off from the top of the tower could be seen as far away as Lewes.

Records show that the tower was given a new iron platform and roof in 1896, but by the time Barbara Jones was researching for the first edition of Follies and Grottoes, which would be published in 1953, it was in a dilapidated condition. Only the ‘intrepid climber’ could make it to the top to enjoy the ‘most sublime views’ as some of the stone stairs were missing.

The folly remained in a poor condition until the 1990s when it was restored, minus the battlements, and given a new purpose as home to antennas for a mobile ‘phone company. Listed at grade II, the tower has continued to earn its keep in this way until the present day.

Eridge Castle was pulled down in the 1930s to make way for a more manageable residence (‘almost blatantly modern’ thought one passer-by in 1937) and remains the seat of the Marquesses of Abergavenny.

Saxonbury Tower stands on private land with no public access. Thanks to Eridge Park Estate Office for help with this post. For more on the estate see https://eridgepark.co.uk

Update August 2024: a few weeks after this post was published, the Folly Fellowship held there annual Garden Party at Eridge Park, courtesy of the Marquess of Abergavenny. Member Peter Godfrey modelled the celebratory cake on the Saxonbury Tower http://follies.org.uk

Thanks for reading, and as ever do get in touch if you have any thoughts. The comments box can be found at the bottom of the page.

Such was the headline of an article in the Sussex County Magazine in 1937.  The author, William A. Bagley, was fascinated by the ‘strange towers’ that could be found ‘dotted all over the hilltops of England’. Revisiting some of the follies he described some 85 years later the Folly Flâneuse discovered that the towers have had differing histories: one is lost, some survive in much the same state as when Bagley saw them, and one is currently on the market with a multi-million pound asking price.

One of the featured follies was Holmbush Beacon Tower, built in 1855-57 on the Holmbush estate, home to one of the Broadwood family of piano fame. It became a popular destination for ramblers and picnic parties, and the slender tower could be seen from miles around, as well as providing views of 5 counties and out to sea at Shoreham. In 1945, only a few years after Bagley wrote about the folly, the prominent landmark was demolished. The local paper reported that ‘Hitler is said to have passed too near to it, and made it somewhat unsafe’ (presumably this was the Luftwaffe rather than the leader himself).

Racton Tower, a looming great edifice on the Stansted Park estate, was another of Bagley’s subjects, and little has changed since he described it as ‘a tremendous affair’ which ‘for a long time… has been in ruins.’ It was erected by Lord Halifax in around 1770 and the story is that it cost him £10,000 to build. Whilst Lord Halifax no doubt simply fancied having a belvedere/eyecatcher-cum-banqueting house on his estate, today it is a favourite haunt of those who believe in ghosts and the paranormal. The architect owner would like to restore it as his home, but the local planning officers are not so keen.

Happily Bagley found the Toat Monument, near Pulborough, in ‘a fair condition’, although the roof was in disrepair. A year after Bagley’s visit the tower was ‘burnt down by picnickers’, but happily it was later restored by the owner of Toat House, W.T. Dallas. The tower is dated 1823 and commemorates Samuel Drinkald who is said to have died on the spot after falling from his horse. All sorts of local stories add embellishment to this tale, including the legend that the builder of the tower and his horse were buried upside down below the tower. Spoiler alert: if you’d like to stick with this spirited story, skip the next sentence. The truth is less dramatic – Drinkald was buried in All Hallows by the Tower in London in August 1822, and the tower built by his family in his memory.

The Nore Folly at Slindon perplexed Bagley, and he concluded that ‘who erected it and why is not known’. When Bagley saw it the front arch, the remnants of which can just be seen springing from the side walls, would have been intact. In the 1930s the folly was covered with graffiti and Bagley was particularly incensed by the work of ‘Minnie and Bob’. Happily the arch, built as a summerhouse by Lady Newburgh of Slindon in 1814, is now in the care of the National Trust and, for now, Minnie and Bob’s modern-day counterparts seem to have left it alone.

Just as Bagley was completing his article he discovered a new folly and added a quick line to say that there was a tower in Shillinglee Park, close to the Surrey border. He illustrated his piece with a photograph of a rather nondescript tower, which Pevsner would describe in 1965 as ‘squat and stuccoed’ and Barbara Jones dismissed as ‘ugly’ in the 2nd edition of Follies & Grottoes (1974).

But the ugly duckling was maturing into an elegant swan. The tower was first converted into flats, with glamorous inhabitants including Judy Garland and later Charlotte Rampling, and then from 1984 it was renovated and extended as a single private home. In April 2022 it was placed on the market and featured in Country Life as ‘a beautiful baby castle’. Contact agents Knight Frank if your budget extends to £6,500,000.

Bagley was amused to think that the builders of these follies (with their origins forgotten, or mangled by later generations) would ‘doubtless chuckle in their graves when they learn of the controversy and speculation their eccentricities cause’, and it is certainly true that many follies now have lurid and/or inaccurate tales attached that would bemuse their builders.

And proving he was very much a kindred spirit of the Folly Flâneuse, Bagley concluded that by making a folly the object of a country walk ‘interest is certainly added to the ramble.’

You can still ramble and see the follies that intrigued Bagley in 1937, although some can only be seen as distant objects from public footpaths. There is full access to the Nore folly and there’s a lovely walk here https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/slindon-estate/trails/eartham-to-puck-lane-and-nore-hill-folly-walk

If you fancy life at Shillinglee here is the link you need. Do please invite the Folly Flâneuse to visit once you are settled in https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/properties/residential/for-sale/shillinglee-chiddingfold-godalming-gu8/CHO080405

Comments are most welcome, please scroll down to the foot of the page to share any thoughts or further information. Thank you for reading.

The Folly Flâneuse is away, so a brief post this week to accompany some holiday snaps.

Woolbeding is a pretty Georgian house set in the rolling Sussex countryside. It was given to the National Trust in 1957 by the last private owner, Alice Leila Lascelles, a descendant of the 1st Earl of Harewood. In the 1970s Woolbeding was leased to Simon Sainsbury, of the supermarket family, and with his partner Stewart Grimshaw he laid out the beautiful gardens and created a new pleasure ground. Sainsbury’s interest in the arts is well known, and the heritage world has benefitted hugely from funds provided by The Monument Trust which he founded in 1965. Following Sainsbury’s death in 2006 Grimshaw continued with their plan to gradually return the garden to the National Trust, although the house remains private.

Garden designer Lanning Roper worked with the couple in the 1980s, and at the turn of the 20th century Julian and Isabel Bannerman became involved, their designs include the Long Walk which culminates in a woodland garden packed with follies and features.

Woolbeding remains a private garden but visitors can pre-book on limited days in the summer months https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/woolbeding-gardens

James Wyatt produced plans for a ‘Saxon Hexagon Tower’ for the 6th Earl of Coventry in the last years of the 18th century. After his death in 1809 it was sold and over the following centuries it became the home of a printing workshop, a retreat for members of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and a farmhouse. In 1974 it became the centrepiece of a country park, and it remains so today.

Of course nothing you have read above is news. Broadway tower is one of the best loved follies in Britain, having appeared in countless films and tv programmes. The very flexible tower has even featured in a recent advertisement for property developer Aldermore.

The reason The Folly Flâneuse is featuring it here is because without this tower there would not be the book that is by every folly-spotters side: Follies, Grottoes & Garden Buildings.

Broadway Tower captured Gwyn Headley’s imagination as a child and he remained passionate about the subject, first publishing a book about follies in 1986 with Dutchman Wim Meulenkamp as co-author. In FG&GB they updated their original research and presented it in a gazetteer format, so that the book is fabulously user-friendly. 2019 sees the twentieth anniversary of its publication, and The Folly Flâneuse thinks this is a cause for celebration. Cheers!

Gwyn is shown above, aged 5,  looking loathe to leave Broadway Tower. Wim’s introduction to the genre came aged 13 when he was intrigued by the sham wooden bridge at Kenwood, near London.

When studying at Utrecht University in the 1970s, Wim took a module on the English landscape park and headed to the library to write a paper on Rousham. On the shelves he discovered Barbara Jones’s Follies and Grottoes and he too was hooked.

His doctoral subject was Mad Jack Fuller, creator of these wonderful follies at Brightling in Sussex, and he recalls that ‘whilst everyone else did their postgraduate theses on colour schemes in Siennese painting 1535-1560, and the like, we actually had inordinate fun.’

A mere two decades later Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp are working on a new book – good things come to those who wait. In the meantime, you can hear Gwyn and Wim talk at an event organised by The Folly Fellowship in London this autumn. Final details are to be confirmed but keep checking the website for details http://follies.org.uk/index.php/this-year/

More on the Broadway Tower here https://broadwaytower.co.uk

The sham bridge at Kenwood has just emerged from restoration https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/environment/kenwood-house-sham-bridge-restoration-almost-finished-1-5874808

Ed Kluz, who kindly shared his photos of Brightling is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work often features follies. Visit his website or follow him on instagram @edkluz https://www.edkluz.co.uk. He will reappear in these pages before too long.