A folly is a building constructed for decoration, but which looks like it might have had a purpose. They are a bit of an extravagance on the part of the builder, and they nearly always have a story to tell. And our diverse Sussex follies are certainly no exception.
Mad Jack Follies
Jack Fuller, aka Mad Jack, was an unusual man. A philanthropist, an MP and High Sheriff, he also financed the building of the Belle Tout lighthouse at Beachy Head and was a supporter of Eastbourne Lifeboats. But he is perhaps best known for the five follies he built across East Sussex.
These are: the Sugar Loaf (near Dallington), the Pyramid and the Tower (Brightling), and the Observatory and the Needle (both on private land near Brightling). It’s great fun whizzing around the countryside trying to find them and you can read more about them and their extraordinary individual tales here: Mad Jack’s Follies.
Nore Folly
Nore Folly, aka Slindon Folly, is just outside the village of Slindon in West Sussex. It was built in about 1814 to provide work for villagers during the depression following the Napoleonic Wars. Apparently, after it was built, the family used to hold picnics here. It’s rather impressive and you can see it as you leave the village across the valley. You can find out more here: Slindon Folly walk
Saxonbury Tower
Not far from Crowborough and Eridge, this folly was built in 1828 by Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny in 1828. It was built in the centre of a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age hill fort, situated on top of Saxonbury Hill and might have been a look out tower. Today it is used by a telephone company but it’s still very enigmatic.
Racton Ruin
Racton Monument (known locally as Racton Ruin) is on a hill near Chichester, West Sussex. It was built between 1766 and 1775 and commissioned by the 2nd Earl of Halifax, either as a summerhouse for the nearby Stansted Estate or as a watch tower for the dock at Emsworth. It is now privately owned but said to be haunted. You can read more here: Racton Ruin
Hiorne Tower
Is it or isn’t it? Hiorne Tower in the grounds of Arundel Castle was built in 1797 by Francis Hiorne. It’s Gothic in style consisting of octagonal corner turrets made in flint and chequer-work. Apparently it was built as part of an unsuccessful bid by the builder to work on Arundel Castle and over the years it has had a number of uses including being a family home and an army training spot. So is it really a folly? No one seems able to decide.
Upperton Monument
Upperton Monument is often described as a folly although it is now a home. It’s just outside Petworth (but within the Petworth estate) in West Sussex and it was built in 1816. It was painted by Turner in 1827. It’s grade II listed and described by Historic England as “Probably a verderer’s look- out originally” – a verderer was apparently a “judicial officer in charge of the king’s forest”.
The Gibraltar Tower
The Gibraltar Tower in Heathfield Park in East Sussex is a grade II listed monument that was also once sketched by Turner. He got about. It dates from 1792 and was built by Francis Newbery as a memorial to the former owner of the estate, George Augustus Eliot, who had been Governor at Gibraltar during the lengthy ‘Great Siege’ by the Spanish and French of 1779-1783.
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