The Folly at Mount Edgcumbe

The Folly was built in 1747 and replaced an Obelisk which had stood on the site previously. It was built by using medieval stone from the churches of St George and St Lawrence which once stood in Stonehouse. The same stone was used to build the Picklecombe Seat further along the coast. Part of the seat features a Medieval doorway. The church of St Lawrence was removed to make way for the Royal William Victualling Yard. The Folly was known as 'The Ruins' for many years. Parts of the old Stonehouse Barrier Gates were also said to have been used. As Stonehouse was never a walled town, it is thought that these came from the Abbey or Manor House. The Pall Mall Magazine, published in 1897, said: 'The ruin was constructed from the remains of a fallen obelisk and some old granite-work.' This would suggest that the obelisk had collapsed sometime before the building of the folly in 1747. If parts were used within the construction of the folly then the obelisk erected on Obelisk Hill at Cremyll can't be the complete obelisk that stood where the folly now stands. An artist painting the scene at the end of the 1800's wrote that the Earl of Edgcumbe had his workers build one folly, had it blown up, didn't like the result and had it built and blown up again to get the result we see today. The Folly couldn't have pleased everyone and within the pages of A Guide to the Coast of Devon and Cornwall, published in 1859, it says: ‘The grounds still are very attractive, but disfigured by silly artificial ruins.’ Also, in Black's Guide to Devonshire, published in 1864, it states: ‘Of the mimic ruins scattered through the grounds it is best to take no heed. They are but sorry accessories to a scene which nature has so bounteously enriched.’