ONE of south Shropshire’s most prominent landmarks, Flounders' Folly, will be open to visitors on Sunday (March 29) and again on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
The 80-feet-high tower overlooks the A49 at Affcot, between Craven Arms and Church Stretton, and offers spectacular views of the south Shropshire hills and distant mountains like Cadair Idris, the Black Mountains and Hay Bluff.
“We’re hoping a good number of visitors will walk up to see us over those days. Entrance is free, but donations to help us maintain the building are always gratefully received by the volunteers who open it up,” said Seabury Salmon, chairman of the Flounders’ Folly Trust.
The Folly will be open from 11am to 4pm, weather permitting. Parking to walk up is at the entrance to the Forestry Commission’s Callow Hill plantation, reached via country lanes from Strefford on the A49 or via Lower Dinchope from the B4368.
The tower was built of local limestone by Benjamin Flounders in 1838. It fell into disrepair during and after the Second World War Two, and the tumbledown was eventually restored in 2005, five years after a small group formed the Flounders’ Folly Trust to save it.
Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other bodies added to substantial donations from local people keen to see the monument back in good condition.
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