#petworth

A Summer Sky Over Petworth

There is something slightly odd about follies.

They are built to look important, yet they serve no real purpose. Too grand to be a shelter. Too small to be a home.

Standing beneath a July sky at Petworth, it felt like a reminder that not everything has to justify itself. Some things exist simply because somebody wanted beauty in a particular corner of the landscape.

A place to stop. A place to look out. A place to think.

Nothing more than that.

The sunniest county in Britain, West Sussex is an understandably popular holiday destination, with epic beaches and plenty of history. The coastline is home to near continuous seaside towns, while the interior is mostly rural. West Wittering is one of the best known beaches, an epic stretch of sand with views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight and plenty of wind for windsurfers and kite…