I seem to remember that Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp described follies as the 'fluffy dice of the 18th Century". Back then, people didn't have cars to add their trinkets and embellishments to, but the rich had their homes and gardens, and so they added to them with extra buildings, grottoes and curiosities.
The folly was the embellishment and has loosely been described as any building built without a purpose. Every explanation that short is going to run into problems pretty quickly and so, for this group, I trust in your discretion if you are looking for guidelines on what you should and should not post.
Lord Berners commented of his folly at Faringdon, Oxford,
"The great point of this tower, is that it will be entirely useless"
For more information, you can do no better than to head over to the Folly Fellowship. Fine and respectable people that help to conserve these buildings that we find so much fun.
