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You can rarely visit the folly tower in Charborough Park between Wimborne and Bere Regis as the 2000 acre estate in which it is located is only occasionally open to the public. This is a shame as to my mind this is the archetypical folly, dark, slightly sinister and Gothic. The tower is situated in the Charborough estate, this being recognized by the long 3 mile brick wall enclosing it alongside the A31.

Photograph kindly supplied by a Dorset contributor

For Broadband users a larger size 665 x 1970 image of the folly is available here  

-it is a big image 210K.

The Stag
You cannot fail to miss the two main gates to the estate either, one with a large stone lion sat on the top of the arch, the other entrance having a rather unusual five legged stag.

Look here   for a phototograph and story behind the five legged stag feature.

The Tower
The tower - because it is easier to see on the horizon from further away - will be seen rising out of the trees that surround it as you approach from Dorchester. It was built in 1790 by the Drax family who still own the estate, with no other purpose than that of being a folly. Early in its life it was struck by lightning and rebuilt to the present height of 100 feet in 1839.

It is quite an ornate octagonal tower with the external appearance of having five floors to it, with - it is said, a view of 4 counties from just the one single viewing room that the tower actually has. This being reached by a rather nice spiral staircase. The position of the tower, on a high spot of ground, ensures a good view from the top.
It is reached from the house by a wide grass walkway that makes its way over a bridge, before rising up two flights of steps to the tower.




Thomas Hardy





Thomas Hardy knew of the tower and it is said he used it, like so many other local landmarks and towns, as the base for one of his works, in this instance,
"Two On A Tower",
(see here)   .















Also to be found at Charborough House is an ice house, this bears a plaque saying it was the site in 1686, where the plot was hatched to oust the reigning James 2nd and bring to the throne William of Orange. This was open to the public during a visit I made in the 1980's, and you still felt chilled inside even in the middle of summer. The tower as you can see, now has mobile phone aerials mounted on the top, so is unlikely to ever be used in the near future.

The closest view you can obtain of the tower, apart from when the grounds are open, is from a small road that runs around the rear of the estate, leading to Lytchett Matravers, but again you can only glimpse the top.

Co-Ords: 392925 097553 / SY 929975  

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