More information : (TM 1478 7378) In July 1994, RCHME's Cambridge Office carried out an anlytical survey of Kerrison's Folly as part of an investigation of Eye Castle (TM 17 SW 05), following a request from Suffolk County Council for management purposes (1). The building had previously been recorded in more detail by Suffolk Arechaeological Unit (1a).
The folly was a mock shell keep, built on the summit of Eye Castle's motte; an early 20th-century postcard shows it intact (1b). David Davy recorded the progress of its construction in 1844 (1c), reputedly as a house for the batman who served General Sir Edward Kerrison at the battle of Waterloo. Between c.1907 and c.1917, the upper storey of the house held a museum. The house was almost completely destroyed by storms in the 1960's.
The keep is 14m in diameter and 4.6m high, with nine sides all except one of which are 4.5m long, and projecting buttresses at the angles. It is built mostly of flint, with moulded brick quoins and window arches. Each side is decorated with a mock loop-hole. The original entrance was on the north-western side. A 4m square tower, originally c.1m higher than the keep wall, is located mid-way along the longer western side, in the north-eastern corner of which the spiral staircase to the upper storey originally stood. A fireplace and various other details survive.
The folly probably replaced a windmill, which had first been erected in 1561-2 by Nicholas Cutler at the order of the Cornwallis family (1d). No evidence for this now survives on the ground.
For further details, see RCHME Level 3 client report and plan at 1:500 scale. (1)
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