Ashton Memorial
Encyclopedia
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
in Williamson Park
Williamson Park, Lancaster
Williamson Park is a park in Lancaster, England. Its focal point is the Ashton Memorial. The park was constructed by millionaire James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton, and his father, also called James Williamson...
, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and 1909 by millionaire industrialist Baron Ashton
James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton
James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician.Williamson was a successful businessman, whose family business in Lancaster produced oil cloth and linoleum which were exported around the world...
in memory of his second wife, Jessy, at a cost of over £80,000 (£4,588,000 in today's money. At around 150 feet tall, it dominates the Lancaster skyline and is visible for many miles around. It also offers spectacular views of the surrounding area including Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...
. The building is in the Edwardian Baroque style and was designed by John Belcher
John Belcher (architect)
John Belcher was an English architect.Belcher was born in Southwark on 10 July 1841, London. His father of the same name was an established architect. The son was articled with his father, spending two years in France from 1862 where he studied contemporary architecture...
. It has been described as "England's grandest folly" and the "Taj Mahal of the North" but simply as "The Structure" by local people. The dome is externally of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, the main stone used is Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
although the steps are of hard wearing granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
from Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. Externally around the dome are sculptures representing "Commerce", "Science", "Industry" and "Art" by Herbert Hampton. The interior of the dome has allegorical paintings of "Commerce", "Art" and "History" by George Murray. The floor is of white, black and red marbles.
Today, the memorial serves as an exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
space on the upper floor and a venue for concerts and wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s.
Damaged by fire in 1962, in 1981 the memorial was closed for safety reasons, to be reopened after being restored during 1985-7.