Historic hidden folly uncovered in Birmingham garden
- Published
A folly has been revealed in all its glory at the bottom of a suburban garden after the homeowner decided to tidy it up before selling his house.
Jonathan Bostock always knew of the existence of the structure, which was largely hidden in undergrowth at his home in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Mr Bostock's pruning shears have now enabled the folly, thought to date from the 18th Century, to finally emerge.
Follies are decorative garden features mainly built for aesthetic pleasure.
National Trust senior gardens adviser Pam Smith visited the building on Tuesday and said: "I've been in Birmingham 24 years and I think this is one of my best days.
"It's beautiful. Everyone loves discovering something that has been lost and this has been lost for quite a while.
"It just a privilege to be some of the early people to see it in this state, because sometimes when things get restored, they lost a bit of romanticism."
The adviser believes the folly dates back to the 1700s, but further investigation is needed as the art of creating follies continued into and after the Victorian era.
Mr Bostock has lived at the property for 25 years, but is selling with his children now grown up.
"I've known this building has been here, but to be honest I've let it go a bit in terms of the foliage around it - the ivy's been growing over it," he said.
"We're selling, so I thought it's time to clear up the garden. Started work, started to pull off the ivy and thought 'come on, this is really interesting'.
"We put something out on Twitter and said 'does anyone know what this thing is, when is it dated, and how important it is?
"And we were absolutely gobsmacked by the level of interest."
Garden historian Advolly Richmond also visited the building on Tuesday. "It's obviously a shell house as opposed to a grotto, because grottos tend to be more subterranean," she said.
"It's absolutely gorgeous inside. A lot of the teeth are still intact, and the bones are just pristine."
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