"Follies are buildings which are fun-loving, engaging, whimsical. Some make us laugh, some provoke contemplation, some were serious, albeit disastrous, attempts at experimental architecture. Together with their close relatives, the Grottoes, and their more sober cousins, the Garden Buildings, the great majority of Britain's legacy of structures built for pleasure before purpose has been recorded here." "The variety is enormous: this book chronicles more than 1,600 sites which boast follies, grottoes or garden buildings of original or eccentric aspect; Gothick Temples, eyecatchers, pavilions, gazebos and pagodas abound." "Presented county-by-county, in gazetteer format, with six-figure site grid references, dates and full and fascinating information on the history, construction and peculiarity of each, this companion to one of the most endearing aspects of the British countryside is the most entertaining guidebook."--BOOK JACKET.