Flounders' Folly - the first steps to restoration

Benjamin Flounders built the tower known as Flounders' Folly in 1838. The original drawings for it by a Ludlow architect still survive in the North Yorkshire Record Office at Northallerton. It was built from local stone, 80ft. high and16 foot square, with two foot thick walls and small slits of windows. It originally had a castellated top around a viewing platform which had a flag pole. This was reached by a wooden staircase which went from side to side. Apparently until well into the 20 th century there was a cupboard on the top which housed a picnic box with crockery and cutlery, which could be used by those who completed the climb successfully.

There are various stories about why Flounders built the tower. These vary from the theory that he wanted to create work for the unemployed to the rather fanciful idea that he wanted to be able to see his ships on the Bristol Channel or the River Mersey. It might just have been built as a viewing point or belvidere to mark the place where four estates met.

The folly appears to have been heavily restored by the time of its centenary in 1938, judging from a photo of that date which shows a man on the top looking out. By the time of the second world war it was showing signs of wear and at some stage the lead was taken from the roof. The stairs gradually became unsafe and in the early 1990s the district council had to take down the remains of the castellated top and fence off the tower as unsafe.

Several attempts to restore it started but never got beyond the problems of the ownership until the Flounders Folly Trust was set up and succeeded in purchasing the freehold in 2001.