Building record 3382/0/4 - The Spectacles

{1} Gate arch. Probably mid C18. Regular coursed lias. Pointed arch with stepped gable over, flanked by tall circular turrets with castellations. Pair of iron gates in archway. Possibly erected as one of a range of similar follies on the Boughton Hall estate.

{3} Archways built circa 1770, known as The Spectacles.

{4} The Spectacles comprises two casellated round towers with an arch between, indeed they are very like a binocular. The Spectacles were located on Spectacles Lane, but have now lost their road and simply stand in a hedge.

{5} The Spectacles (a tall castellated arch dating from circa 1770) sits on the boundary of Boughton Park. The folly was designed as an eyecatcher, to be seen as a silhouette on the brow of the hill when viewed from the park. The Spectacle comprises two slender semi-circular towers with battlements, the rounded side facing Boughton Park. The towers are joined by an archway with battlements. General erosion of the monuments has caused the loss of some of the crenellations. The reverse of the archway incorporates a dummy doorway beneath each tower. The Spectacles is almost identical to that of the Drayton Arch, Wroxton Abbey, Banbury (1760) which is attibuted to Sanderson-Miller.

{6} 1.7km east of the hall and standing on Spectacle Lane as well as the parish and estate boundary is a gothic folly known as The Spectacle. It was erected by the Second Earl Strafford in 1770.

{7} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 12/141 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G02 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44900.

<3> NORTHAMPTONSHIRE GARDENS TRUST, Correspondence From NGT, (unchecked) (Correspondence). SNN44218.

<4> Jones B., 1974, Follies and Grottoes, (unchecked) (Book). SNN56966.

<5> Scott S., 1995, The Follies of Boughton Park, p.50-52 (checked) (Book). SNN44220.

<6> English Heritage, 1994, Register of Parks & Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England (1994, Northamptonshire), (checked) (Report). SNN1324.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Moulton (Photographs). SNN112853.

Record last edited

Jan 12 2022 10:12AM