Today we kick off a new series here on the blog that I will be working on over the course of time. I am fascinated by Follies and shall be exploring these fascinating, quirky subjects throughout Dorset and Hampshire. Then much later on the whole of the UK and possibly Europe too…. Now I am getting carried away!
Standing atop a hill is a rather peculiar looking building which somehow blends in with its surroundings rather better than you may imagine. The pyramid shaped folly dominates Farley Mount Park which was named after the “Horse Monument” itself.
An inscription on the North Wall reads:
“Underneath lies buried a horse, the property of Paulet St. John Esq., that in the month of September 1733 leaped into a chalk pit twenty-five feet deep afoxhuntiing with his master on his back and in October 1734 he won the Hunters Plate on Worthy Downs and was rode by his owner and was entered in the name of “Beware Chalk Pit”.
It’s well worth a visit and the views from the top of the hill are both extensive and impressive.
Photographically its got a lot of potential and I am planning to revisit quite late in the day to get some even better shots.
Licensed images available at:
images.nicklewis.net
www.fotolibra.com
More information at:
http://www.hants.gov.uk/countryside/fmcp/monument.html
Image Copyright of Nick Lewis Photography
Great Bustards once roamed the UK until persecution rendered them extinct. Through an extensive reintroduction programme, they are once again back in Wessex!
