Faringdon Folly Tower and Woodland

Faringdon Folly Tower is said to be the last folly tower built in England, completed in 1935 by the eccentric Lord Berners on a wooded hill above the Oxfordshire market town of Faringdon. The 100ft tower rises above a canopy of Scots pine that has a distinctive, resinous hush on calm days, and the climb to the top opens out onto views that reach across the Vale of White Horse to the Berkshire Downs and the Cotswold scarp.

The woodland that surrounds the tower is the real reward for families with younger children. A network of paths threads between the old pines and the undergrowth, and the volunteers who look after the site have added carved wooden sculptures and quirky signs that make a woodland walk feel more like a gentle treasure hunt. Children who are old enough to climb the tower stairs independently tend to find the effort worthwhile; those who are not will be happy enough hunting through the trees below.

The tower is open only on the first and third Sunday of each month from April through October, and even then entry is free with donations welcomed. The woodland is open at all times and costs nothing. Folly Hill is a comfortable walk from the free car parks at Stanford Road and Park Road on the edge of town, and Faringdon town centre with its independent cafes is five minutes in the other direction. The site pairs naturally with Farmer Gow's Activity Farm and Roves Farm near Sevenhampton, both within easy reach.

Good for: outdoors, history, sensory. Ages: 0–2, 3–4, 5–7, 8–11, 12+.