Massey's Folly
Encyclopedia
Farringdon, Hampshire
Farringdon is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire in England. The village is 2.8 miles south of Alton, on the A32 road, close to a source of the River Wey....
village in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
for 62 years. The folly
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...
took thirty years to build. The reason the construction was so protacted was that the folly was entirely built by Massey along with a single bricklayer. Further delays were do to Massey occasionally demolishing completed parts of the structure and making further additions. It has seventeen bedrooms and two towers. Its purpose is unknown but since 1925 it has been used as a school and village hall. Massey is buried just outside the church porch.
The folly featured on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Restoration Village
Restoration (TV series)
Restoration, Restoration, Restoration is a set of BBC television series where viewers decided on which listed building that was in immediate need of remedial works was to win a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund...
programme. It is now in receipt of National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
Heritage Funding.