Building the temple ruin folly

Building the temple ruin folly

The temple ruin folly was designed by the owners, and constructed in the workshops of Rockthemes International. Later it was transported to the garden site. The original design was taken from a photograph of a doorway that we saw on one of our numerous visits to view the ancient Roman remains at Pompeii in Italy.Follies and ruined temples were a popular garden feature in the 18th and early 19th centuries when wealthy aristocrats visited ancient sites to view the ruins as part of the ‘Grand tour.’ On their return to England, they commissioned copies of the ruins they had seen for their gardens and large estates.

The structure was bolted to the wall to secure it and was hand coloured to give the appearance of aged, weathered stone.

Within a year ivy began to cover the upper surface and this had mellowed and ‘aged’ the temple folly even more.