Tag: John Varley

architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Hertfordshire, Monument, Observatory, Tower

Stratton’s Folly, Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

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View of the tower by John Varley, 1823. Courtesy of Chris Beetles Gallery, St James's, London. Full details below.

Just outside Little Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire stands a lofty circular brick tower which sits on an octagonal base. It was built towards the end of the eighteenth century by the Stratton family and has, appropriately, a tall tale attached. The eye-catcher was a popular subject with artists, and a number of very pretty views survive.

architecture, belvedere, country house, eyecatcher, Folly, garden history, landscape garden, Temple, West Yorkshire

The Temple of Venus, Harewood House, West Yorkshire

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Until the middle of the 19th century visitors to Harewood House, near Leeds, could open the doors of the Saloon (today known as the Main Library) on the piano nobile and ‘walk out upon the fine portico’. From there they could admire the lake and plantations created by the finest landscape designers of the 18th century, and on the horizon they would glimpse a fine domed temple.