| Welcome to the home of the Folly Fellowship.
The Folly Fellowship was founded in 1988 as a pressure group to protect, preserve, and promote follies, grottoes & garden buildings. Initially a group of enthusiasts keen to record what was at first seen as a peculiarly British aspect of architecture, it has grown into a serious conservation and consultative architectural heritage charity, while not losing sight of the basic idea that these buildings are fun - they were built for pleasure before purpose. Some make us laugh, some provoke contemplative thoughts, some can frighten. Some are mere whims, others demand to be taken seriously.
People take their pleasures seriously - why should buildings be any different? An early realisation was the international flavour of the genre although the British Isles can count more follies per square mile than any other region, there are examples to be found all over the world.
In recent years, there has been an increased awareness of the importance of these buildings to our landscapes. Many have been restored and several have been completely rebuilt with local support. Better still, some individuals with imagination and the tenacity to fight the planning process, have begun to build new follies...
 Web Shop!
Copies of every issue of the magazine and journal, plus all the merchandise can now be bought online and paid for with a credit card or Paypal.
Go to the webshop now or take a look at the cards page for more detail.
|
| You can now buy any of Gwyn Headley's ebooks by clicking on this link and help the FF at the same time. Gwyn has promised us 15% of the proceeds, provided you go to his site through this link. Details of the series are on our Merchandise page, in the latest magazine and of course on Gwyn's own site. |
|
You can now pay for your Folly Fellowship subscription by Paypal. I've made it easy for you to do so by just clicking on the button on the membership page. |
|
The Folly Fellowship Ltd.
Company no.2600672
Registered Office: 1 Keble House, Manor Fields, London SW15 3LS
Registered In England
Charity No: 1002646
I've just found a blog called 'Ben's Garden Blog' by gardener Ben Dark who has an erudite and witty way with words. Back in 2009 he wrote a piece entitled 'In Praise of Folly'. I think this is a spendidly well written piece, so here's a taster:
"Now I realise that shouting ‘come on be happy!!’ into the electronic void is not the answer to the world’s problems. People need to be made happy, and people are made happy by different things. From a vigorous and empirical period of self-study I have discovered these different things are follies! Lots of different types of folly! Can there be any greater joy than in planning a Greco-Roman Temple to go next to the tool shed? Or sneaking a 100ft pagoda-cum-vulture-house past the planning officers? Could there be any better or happier way to spend your retirement and all your savings than on a three-quarter-size replica of a ruined medieval castle for your front garden? I genuinely think not.
I plead with anyone who is reading this and feeling slightly miserable, unloved or pointless to start planning a folly. You will be doing yourself a huge favour, but more importantly you will be doing me a favour by making the world a slightly more cheerful place."
And this great little quote: "It is the flowers that bring us happiness, and the folly is the flower of the hard landscaping world. It has no purpose but beauty, there is no vulgar practicality about the structure to sully it with worldly concerns, it is a monument to the imagination alone. Don’t look to the gardens shows for inspiration on what folly to use and what to build it with; instead look at your own secret and probably quite embarrassing perversions."
Well that cheered me up and I hope it did you, so go to Ben's page and read it in full.
|
Urgent! We have nowhere to hold our Annual Garden Party! If you have any suggestions (along with practical information such as contact names and telephone numbers), we'd love to hear from you.
The AGM is now set for Sunday 1st July at Alvechurch Village hall, Worcestershire. No follies nearby this time. |
Spotted just a few miles from where I live, I stopped and went to congratulate the owner on his fine new folly. He was somewhat taken aback - I don't think he knew what a folly was - "oh, you mean the Stupa" he said. It turns out the plain 60s bungalow to which it belongs is in fact a Buddist retreat and this is a religious symbol which was blessed last year and had items of religious significance lowered into it by shaven headed men in robes carrying incense and chanting mantras. And yes, it's on the Welsh border of course. So -folly or serious religious building? Its all in the eye of the beholder..
|
|
