A Pre-ruin

It was E's turn today to devise a local walk and I took the train out to Saltaire to meet her. We followed a familiar route out along the canal, with a small diversion through Hirst Wood, before carrying along to Bingley and then up Altar Lane to the St.Ives Estate. We then cut down to Harden and up again to the Cottingley Wood Estate, before returning along the River Aire, all on paths and trails that were new to me.

It was a wonderful surprise to stumble upon this folly, built by Benjamin Ferrand in 1796. It was once a prominent landmark on the skyline and one supposes he fancied the notion of looking out upon it from his house down below at Harden Grange. After a long run and walk yesterday, the legs were creaking on the last stretch back along the canal.

It does make you wonder. Did he have precise plans drawn up for the ruin, a perfectly prescribed incompleteness? Or did he just tell the builders to stop at some point? What are the aesthetic values applied to creating a ruin. And why?