Buckinghamshire, Folly, South Yorkshire, Temple, Tower, USA

Wintherthur Follies: Architectural Whimsy in the Garden

Photos: Rob Cardillo courtesy of Winterthur

‘What did Delaware?’, asks the old song. Well until January 2020 one part of the state casts off its brand new jersey and dons some brand new follies. Winterthur, near Wilmington, DA., is home to a gallery, museum and library set within 60 acres of garden and surrounded by a further 1,000 acres of park. Winterthur’s founder, Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), designed the garden with the architect Marian Coffin, an old friend from childhood. From around 1920 he embellished the estate with garden buildings relocated from nearby estates that were under threat, as well as creating his own follies from recycled architectural fragments.

eyecatcher, Folly, North Yorkshire, Observatory, Tower

Bambro’ Castle, Howsham, North Yorkshire

Barbara Jones, the first person to write a comprehensive account of follies in Britain, saw this building and was underwhelmed. In the 1953 first edition of Follies & Grottoes she described it as ‘gutted’ and full of pigeon’s nests, and concluded that ‘no amount of bird life can divest this folly of its ordinariness’. If only she had seen it in its prime: a sketch by the itinerant artist and drawing master J.C. Nattes dated 1807 shows an enchanting little building.

Courtesy Manchester Art Gallery

Bambro’ Castle, as it was called, was named in honour of the Bamburgh family, former owners of Howsham. It is not recorded if the builder, Nathaniel Cholmley, was consciously allying his diminutive structure with the somewhat grander Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland coast. It was extant by 1791, when it is named as ‘Bamburgh Castle House’. The gothic detail is similar to that on the nearby Howsham Mill which is attributed to John Carr of York. Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown is known to have drawn up a plan for Howsham, and these buildings ‘punctuating’ and ornamenting the landscape may have been his suggestion. Sadly little archival material for this period has survived for Howsham.

The mill at Howsham. Functional and an eye-catcher in the landscape.

The folly served a dual purpose. By day, it was a summer-house for refreshments when riding through the ornamental woodland on the Howsham estate. Furnished with a ‘Chintz sofa’, an octagonal mahogany dining table, painted and gilded chairs and all the paraphernalia for serving lemonade, tea and cake it must have been an idyllic retreat. As night fell it perhaps became an observatory for it housed a ‘large Tellescope’.

Jones was one of the last to record the building. Soon after it deteriorated further and was eventually demolished as the ornamental woodland gave way to commercial forestry. Visitors in the 1980s were sad to find it gone.

Surely Barbara Jones was let down by her memory? The two photos above are from from her own files (generously shared from a private collection). How could she describe this folly as ordinary?

Howsham Hall is an events venue and there is no public access. Howsham Mill is open regularly https://www.howshammill.org.uk

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