Have you ever visited a folly? Where was it?
When looking for alternate things to do in Bath, UK (besides the famed Roman baths swarming with tourists), we came across this unusual find: Sham Castle. It is precisely what it says: a complete fake. While the facade looks like a proper castle from the front, there’s nothing behind it. It’s missing a moat, a drawbridge, three other walls, and an interior.
It was built in 1762 purely for aesthetics, and it now serves only as a fun picnic spot.
Follies have been built all around the world for various reasons, and there are actually two more that overlook Bath: Brown’s Folly and Beckford’s Tower, both towers built in the 19th century. Many are built simply to provide jobs. Some are even purposely constructed to look like ruins, when an original never existed.
Britain even has a Folly Fellowship dedicated to preserving these ornamental buildings.
Sham Castle provided a great excuse to take some pictures.. even if there were no ruins to explore beyond the front gate!
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