S t o u r h e a d

A l f r e d 's  T o w e r

Sat astride the actual boundary line of Somerset and Wiltshire you will find Alfred's Tower. This folly tower is part of the estate of Stourhead Gardens, established and owned from 1715 to 1947 by the Hoare family.




1.2 Million Bricks
This is a 160 foot tall triangular folly, built by Henry Flitcroft a noted English Palladian architect of the time , it took 10 years to build and was finished in 1772, using 1.2 million bricks. It is hollow in the middle and open to the sky, with an enclosed spiral stairway winding its way up inside one of the 3 corner turrets attached to the triangular body of the main tower. The tiny windows you can see provide the only light for climbing the 205 steps.










King Alfred
The view from the walkway around the hollow centre is breathtaking, as the tower is built on a hill 840 feet above sea level. The reason for the name of Alfred`s Tower is that it is built on the spot where King Alfred raised his standard against the Danes. There is a stone plaque above the door explaining this, complete with a small statue of Alfred built into the wall over the entrance.


Plane Crash
In 1944 a plane in fog flew into the top, killing its Canadian crew. Some newer brick work which can be seen two-thirds down on one corner, was due to a repair in the sixties caused by the activities of masonry bees and not, as is often stated, from the damage caused by the collision of the aircraft.
Headley and Meulenkamp state in their book 'Follies grottoes and garden buildings', that when the collapse from the masonry bee damage occurred, people were actually on the top at the time and had to make their way down the spiral staircase past a gaping hole. This thankfully was not the case, as the spiral staircase is not in this particular turret. The aircraft apparently caused minimal damage when it hit the small turret on top of the stairwell, this being the towers highest point.


Visiting
The tower, in the summer months, is open Tues and Fri afternoons, and all weekend. entrance fee in June 2006 was £2.50
Be prepared for some exercise climbing over 200 steps, and do not forget your binoculars if its a clear day.

Alfred's Tower has it's own comprehensive web site. It also explains in great detail the Gothic Convent seen below. This was another of Henry Hoare's garden buildings, hidden in the woods between Stourton and the Tower. It is approximately 1.3 miles walk from the tower and it is now a private dwelling so visiting it is not possible.

Photo submitted by Chris Nelms, Stourhead Wiltshire

 

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