The Folly was built in about 1679 by Richard Preston, a wealthy merchant. His new house, originally named Tanner Hall, formed the centre piece of his estate in Settle. It stands by the original main road into the town and was undoubtedly built to make an impact.

Richard Preston died in 1695/6 and the house passed to his daughter Margaret. She soon sold it to another wealthy local family, the Dawsons, in whose hands it remained until 1980.

From 1708, the Dawsons leased The Folly for a range of uses - at various times it has housed a bakery, a warehouse, a furniture shop, refreshment rooms, a fish-and-chip shop and a salvage business. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was also used from time to time for public and society meetings.

More detailed research into the history of the building is currently underway. A recent exciting discovery has been Richard Preston's probate inventory, which itemises, room by room, the contents of The Folly in 1695.

Mr Philip Dawson was the last member of the family to own The Folly. Having restored and lived in the house for ten years, he finally sold it in 1980 to an antiques dealer who in turn sold it several years later to a developer whose plans were never realised. In 1990, The Folly was yet again placed on the market, but failed to find a buyer.

In 1994, the house was divided into two and the north range sold for retail and residential purposes. The hall and south ranges remained empty and rapidly began to deteriorate. At this point the North Craven Building Preservation Trust intervened and mounted a rescue campaign, with the aim of opening Settle's only Grade 1 listed building to the public.

The Folly owes its Grade 1 listed status primarily to that fact that is belongs to a single period of the late seventeenth century - and has scarcely been altered since.

The plan of the house is conservative and derives from the typical medieval "hall" pattern. The central hall range is slightly set back from the north and south ranges. The north range, with a separate entrance, housed the service quarters where the kitchen and storerooms were located. The principal room in the south range is named as the "parlor" in the 1695 probate inventory. The prominence of the staircase and the existence of separate fireplaces indicates that there were also important rooms on the first floor, serving as reception rooms and bedrooms. The unheated top floor would have been used for lesser bedrooms and storage. A notable feature of the house is the stair tower with a prospect room at the top, now accessible only through a small ceiling hatch.

Architecturally, The Folly is something of an enigma, combining features representing the height of fashion in the 1670s - the alternating long and short quoins, or cornerstones, at the angles of the front of the house and the grand main staircase - with those of a century earlier - the ground floor windows with semi-circular headed lights. These windows are also remarkable for the way in which they are carried round the corners of the wings to form a near-continuous wall of glass.

The whole exterior of the front of the house makes a strong and immediate impact. Of special interest are the arched windows at first floor level and the three square-headed niches set symmetrically below the top floor window, possibly intended for statues. The main entrance has a highly unusual and elaborate doorcase, flanked by flute columns, each formed of just two blocks of stone. Above the door is a much-weathered datestone of 1675 or 1679.

The survival of the interior of the house is also very complete. Main features include the inglenook fireplace with its arch of "joggled voussoirs* " or keystones which still bear the original numbering on their inner faces. The decorative arrowhead mouldings on either side of the fireplace echo others round the entrance door and on the ceiling beams. The oak-panelled wainscot* and doors are probably original and the survivors of more extensive panelling destroyed by fire in 1900. The "dog-leg" staircase is constructed of oak, with beautifully twisted balusters, a moulded handrail and ball finials.

*voussoir: (from Latin & French words meaning "to roll"): each of the wedge-shaped or tapered stones, bricks, etc., forming an arch or vaulting
*wainscot: wooden panelling or boarding on lower part of room-wall

Copyright North Craven Building Preservation Trust