One of the most historic landmarks in the area is beginning to collapse.

A large crack in Folly Arch has widened to the extent that daylight can now be seen from the other side.  Bricks and cement have now started to break away and fall to the ground.

The North Mymms Green Belt Society has written to Welwyn Hatfield Council's planning department asking officials to revisit the site.  Earlier this year the local authority said the structure was not dangerous, but the Society says another visit is now needed.

Part of the Arch support has fallen away and it looks as though the corner of one brick is all that is holding the structure together

The Society has also written a letter to English Heritage urging them to take action to save the Arch.

Folly Arch was erected in 1740 to commemorate Gobion's connection with Queen Elizabeth 1.  The estate was given to her in 1550 by Edward VI but returned to the More family by Mary Tudor in 1553.

For more than 250 years the Arch has been a popular landmark in the area.

The North Mymms Green Belt Society has been campaigning to save the Arch and to ensure it is restored.  The Society's website has been drawing attention to 'a large crack' which appeared in the Grade 11* listed building earlier this year.

According to the Society,  English Heritage inspected the Arch last year and said that repairs should be carried out in the spring.

Since then the Society has contacted English Heritage again to try to find out what is delaying the remedial work. 

The longer it is left, says the Green Belt Society, the worse the crack will get and the monument could be lost forever.

More about Folly Arch on this site

History of Gobions Estate – Chapter One
History of Gobions Estate – Chapter Four
A Modern History of Brookmans Park - Chapter Two
A Modern History of Brookmans Park - Chapter Four
A Modern History of Brookmans Park - Chapter Five
A Modern History of Brookmans Park – Photographs
North Mymms - Parish and People - Photographs Two
North Mymms - Parish and People - Chapter Thirteen
The History of Gobions – Chapter Two
Gobions history to be unearthed – Click Here
Gobions Woodland Trust - Annual Report for 1998
North Mymms - Place Names
Extracts from History Society Archives – 1911

September 12, 1999

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