Folly towers are the strangest buildings in Britain. They were put up to be looked at rather than used, and plenty of them now sit at the end of a farm track, on a hill above a village, or half-hidden in woodland on an estate. Some are eighty feet of brick with nothing inside but a spiral stair. Others were built as ruins before they were ever whole.
That is exactly what makes them worth visiting, and also what makes a first trip worth planning. A parish church tower is usually signposted, maintained and used to visitors. A folly may be a holiday cottage, a bat roost, a locked monument, or a lump of masonry in the middle of a field. Turn up without checking and you can spend a whole afternoon looking at a gate.
What follows is about getting it right: finding towers, working out whether you may actually go in, staying upright on the stairs, and behaving well enough that the next visitor is welcome.
What Counts as a Folly Tower
Folly is a loose word, and it covers a wide range of buildings. It takes in vanity towers built to give an owner a view over a landscape he had already reshaped; eye-catchers designed to close a vista across a park; memorials such as King Alfred's Tower in Somerset, the Ashton Memorial above Lancaster or Penshaw Monument in Sunderland; sham ruins; and the occasional tower built on a bet or a whim.
Because these buildings were never truly useful, they were often left out of the maintenance that keeps a church or a mill standing. Some are now in the care of the National Trust, English Heritage, Cadw or Historic Environment Scotland. Some are let as holiday cottages by the Landmark Trust — Clavell Tower on the Dorset coast is a well-known example. Many more are simply private, owned by a family or a small trust, and opened rarely if at all.
So "is it open?" has no general answer. Assume nothing, and check.
Before You Go: Four Checks
- Who owns it, and whether it opens. Look for a website for the estate or trust. If there isn't one, ring or email the estate office, the parish council or the local tourist information point and ask plainly.
- Whether the path actually reaches the tower. A public footpath across a field may run within sight of a tower without giving you any right to enter the enclosure or climb the stairs. Rights of way are specific lines on the map, not a general permission to explore.
- Current opening times and closures. Towers shut for structural work, for bat roosts, and for winter weather. A guidebook from a decade ago tells you nothing useful.
- Weather and daylight. Exposed staircases and parapets are miserable in wind and rain, and genuinely risky in ice.
If you are unsure, ask. "Is it all right if we walk up and have a look at the tower?" is a perfectly good question, and a farmer who has been asked will usually say yes or no clearly. A farmer who finds you in the yard unannounced will not.
Getting There on Foot
Use an Ordnance Survey map rather than a phone app alone. The 1:25,000 Explorer series shows field boundaries, woodland and access land, which matters when a path disappears into a hedge. Note the grid reference before you leave and download the map for offline use — signal in a wooded valley or on a remote hilltop is often nonexistent.
Expect footpath furniture: stiles, kissing gates, and gates that must be lifted, slid or latched in an unusual way. Some stiles are awkward with a large rucksack, so pack light. If cattle are in the field, walk round the edge rather than through the middle, never come between a cow and her calf, and keep dogs on a lead around livestock at all times.
Parking is the quiet source of most local irritation. Use a village car park, a marked lay-by, or ask at a pub where you intend to spend money. Never block a gateway, a field entrance or a passing place on a single-track lane. Farm machinery is wide and tends to move early.
Climbing Safely
Stairs and doorways
Spiral stairs in old towers are worn into hollows in the middle of each tread, and the risers vary in height. Doorways are often low, with a stone lintel at exactly head height. Take a small torch or headtorch even in daylight, keep one hand free for the wall, and go up one at a time so you can call out at blind corners. Handrails are sometimes original ironwork; test it gently before you trust your weight to it.
Roofs and parapets
Many towers have a parapet walkway with no railing at all, or a railing that has stood there for a century and a half. Wind at the top of a tower is noticeably stronger than at the gate below, and wet stone with lichen on it is genuinely slippery. Do not sit or stand on coping stones.
Know your limits
Vertigo and claustrophobia are common and nothing to be embarrassed about. If you have a heart or lung condition, or problems with balance, speak to a medical professional before attempting a long climb — some towers have dozens of steps in a tight spiral with nowhere to stop and let someone pass. Never climb in a thunderstorm or a gale.
One more thing: many towers are roosts for protected bats. Access may be restricted during hibernation or breeding, and disturbing them is an offence as well as a poor way to treat a building.
Etiquette on Private Land
- Close every gate you open, even if you found it open.
- Keep dogs on leads near livestock and under control everywhere else.
- Stay on the path across cultivated fields and meadows.
- Don't climb walls, fences or locked doors to get a better look.
- Take all litter home, including fruit peel and camera packaging.
- Leave the stone alone. No chalk, no carving, no poking at loose mortar.
- Don't fly a drone over a house, a garden or a working farm without permission.
- Keep noise down, and don't treat a private garden as a viewpoint.
- Ask before any commercial photography or filming.
What to Take
- A paper map and compass, plus an offline copy on your phone
- A torch or headtorch for dark stairwells
- Footwear with a proper tread — not smooth-soled trainers
- A waterproof, even on a promising forecast
- Water and something to eat; rural pubs shut in the afternoon
- Binoculars, for spotting the next tower on the skyline
- A little cash for honesty boxes and village car parks
A Sensible First Trip
For a first outing, choose a tower with clear, well-documented public access and a proper car park: Broadway Tower in Worcestershire or King Alfred's Tower near Stourhead are both straightforward introductions, though you should always check current opening times before travelling. Go midweek, in the morning, outside school holidays.
Check the access details a week ahead, print or download the map, and plan the walk as well as the tower — the approach across a park or up a hill is usually half the pleasure. When you arrive, look first, then ask if you want to go further. Take your time on the stairs, come down as carefully as you went up, and close the gate behind you.
Do that, and you will find that the awkward ones — the tower behind the farm, the one down the lane with no sign — are often the trips you remember longest.
Photo: Milada Vigerova / Pexels
