The English Folly: The Edifice Complex.
- [Place of publication not identified] : Oxford University Press USA : (c)2020. Historic England in association with Liverpool University Press, (c)2020.
- 1 online resource.
Includes bibliographies and index.
Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Bones of the ancients: druids, hermits and pharaohs -- 2. Heaven's Gate: arches, gateways, bridges and lodges -- 3. Pavilions of splendour: hovels, cottages, pavilions and palaces -- 4. Cloud-capp'd towers: towers, pinnacles and steeples -- 5. Rooms with a view: gazebos and eyecatchers -- 6. No love affair is complete without a grotto: grottoes, caves and tunnels -- 7. Mantling ivy: shamruins and castles -- 8. The genius of the place: folly groups and gardens 9. Animal crackers: aviaries, deerfolds, dairies, dovecotes, pig palaces et cetera -- 10. We too: women and follies -- 11. Remembrance of things past: mausolea, monuments, memorials and memories -- 12. The poor man at the gate: scrap shacks and jardins imaginaires -- 13. Golli-Gosperado: a miscellany of curiosities -- Bibliography -- Index
A fascinating book that looks at folly builders, people so blinded by fashion or driven by ideology that they spent great fortunes on making their point in brick, stone and flint. Most follies are simply misunderstood buildings, and this book studies the motives, characters, decisions and delusions of their builders.