'Iconic' folly trust appeals for repairs support

A landmark building, which opened in 1935, is being renovated to fix leaks and erosion caused by the weather.

The 16-week essential repairs to the brickwork of Faringdon Folly, in Oxfordshire, began on 9 April and the tower is scheduled to reopen at the end of July.

Faringdon Folly Tower & Woodland Trust said it had already raised £370,000 of the estimated £420,000 cost and was appealing for community support for the remaining £50,000.

Chair of the trust Sjoerd Vogt said the local aristocrat who built the tower had developed "a bit of a skyscraper" on the horizon towards Faringdon.

The folly is thought to have links to JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels, with research suggesting it was the inspiration for Saruman's Tower of Orthanc.

Built by eccentric aristocrat Lord Berners, the building is thought to be the last major extravagance of its kind constructed in the UK.

Vogt said Lord Berners had been overheard saying to his partner in 1934 that "this folly needs a folly", referring to the Folly Hill where the tower was built.

Vogt said: "It's the hill that is actually the folly, and a folly is a useless building, so jokingly this was a remark that he made of no consequence whatsoever.

"But those who heard him were outraged - before you know it, the townsfolk were up in arms."

Vogt said, after seeing the reaction, Lord Berners thought the project would be "quite fun" and it took him 18 months to plan.

An invoice shows the tower cost £2,151 to build, with fees of £129.

The trust has reported that "prevailing winds and lashing rain constantly batter the brickwork, leading to mortar erosion and water ingress".

"Out of the total of approximately 40,000 external bricks, 8,000-plus need repointing. In other words, the cost is £6 per brick," it said.

It says it would like to focus the community funding efforts only on the repointing of the brickwork.

"What's happening now is genuinely essential repairs," Vogt said.

"It's not going to fall down but if we don't tackle these problems then they are only going to get worse."

Vogt described it as "a kind of a useless building but it is absolutely iconic to the region".

"It's very much part of our identity now, so it's incredibly important that we preserve it for future generations."