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The Folly is the Russell Square headquarters of the Metropolitan Police's Special Assessment Unit, covering magic and other sorts of "weird bollocks" (as DCI Seawoll calls it). I went looking for it during my 2017 visit. I had no luck.

The Follypedia wiki's entry shows a photo of one of the buildings on the south side of the Square, but this is one of a row of Georgian terraces (of the posher sort) that have similar, if not identical, appearances. This is at odds with the description that the Folly was designed "in the style of White's" (i.e. the gentleman's club).

A tumblr post by maple-clef attempts to reconstruct the Folly's location from viewing angles in the graphic novels. This post points out the similarity between a glimpse of something in one of the comic panels and a gated car entrance on nearby Bedford Place.

So is there anything definitive that specifies the Folly's location on the square?

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  • This is, as far as I can tell, a composite of various pictures taken in the vicinity of a particular location, rather than a specific address that fans should hang around outside
    – Valorum
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 19:23
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    @Valorum Fan restraint? You must be joking.
    – Spencer
    Commented Jul 31, 2021 at 19:34
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    That image is pretty much standard of the entire Bloomsbury area, there's nothing overly distinctive about anything other than the Cruciform building round there. The only gentleman's clubs I've seen in the area are equally anonymous on the outside distinguished only by a subtle plaque by the door
    – Separatrix
    Commented Aug 1, 2021 at 8:39

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The novella 'What Abigail Did That Summer' is pretty explicit about the location of The Folly.

...sits on the south side of Russell Square on the corner of Bedford Place.

As the west side of Bedford Place contains a glass and metal office block that would make this The Folly.

50 Russell Sq https://maps.app.goo.gl/XdyAU5nYcXoXgqfM6

The Folly

However... this doesn't really match the images in the graphic novels which show a wider double door as the front entrance unfortunately.

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  • You don't know whether the glass office building isn't a disguise.... :P
    – Spencer
    Commented Aug 16, 2023 at 23:27

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