The Folly And East Folly

The Folly and East Folly are a pair of mid-19th century cottages located on the north side of Gretton Road in Gotherington. They are constructed from highly fossiliferous limestone, believed to originate from the Burford area, and tufa, set on a coursed squared and dressed limestone plinth. The cottages have a stone slate roof with ashlar stacks. The main structure is rectangular, with almost contemporary extensions at the rear, while a 20th-century flat-roofed garage at No 2 is not of special interest.

The symmetrical facade features four windows: two 3-light and two 2-light trefoil-headed stone-mullioned casements on the ground floor. At the center of each cottage, there is a tall blocked arch with dressed stone jambs and quoins, topped with a fleur-de-lys finial. A small niche indicates the dividing wall between the cottages, with a similar niche above. All ground floor windows have relieving arches.

On the first floor, there are four 2-light trefoil-headed stone-mullioned casements, each with a projecting stone trough below the sill and a large shell at the top. A similar shell is found within the first floor niche. All windows are adorned with decorative leaded panes. Each cottage also features a bull's-eye window with a radiating rubble surround and a circular dressed stone center at the first floor level.

At the right gable end, there are three similar bull's-eye windows, two of which are glazed, along with a 2-light trefoil-headed stone-mullioned casement on the ground floor. The lean-to on the right has two similar windows and a 20th-century studded plank door within a pointed-arched surround. The left gable end has two lancet windows on the ground floor. The cottages have stepped gable-end coping and feature gable-end, axial, and projecting stacks with 'gabled' tops. The interior does not contain any features of special interest. The cottages were formerly known as Prescott Cottage and Rock Cottage.