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     Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :- Tim Prior of Worthing.

In the same way that at the time of becoming a teenager, a child is around two-thirds of their final adult height, this short hexagonal tower looks to be at the same stage of its own development. It certainly needs, to my mind at least, another storey added for it to achieve a correctly proportioned look.
It can be found, rather hidden, amongst the trees at Holly Hill, part of the Mount Ephraim estate. The interior spiral staircase of iron has now been removed, no doubt as a safety issue for those folly lovers who were foolhardy, curious, or just dedicated, and who wished to take in the present day, rather limited, view available from the turret.

Mount Ephraim house was built by Sir Edwyn Sandys Dawes in the 1870's, whilst the folly was thought to have been constructed later in the early 1900's, when it is known that a lot of landscaping work to the gardens was undertaken.
Legend has it that Sir Edwyn, who also was the chairman of the New Zealand Shipping Company, had the tower built to view his ships in the Medway that is situated some 5 miles to the North, while another source states it was simply built as a summer house.
Sir Edwyn died though in 1903, so it may have been built by his eldest son Willie, who inherited the estate from his father. In any event it seems the tower was designed and built with local labour from the estate, which could explain its rather modest appearance.

Unfortunately,the tower no longer affords a view of the sea, due to the encroachment of nature, and the years of neglect have now taken their toll.

Footnote: The 'New Zealand Shipping company' and the 'Federal Steam Navigation Company' amalgamated in 1912, and both later became part of P & O.

Co-Ords: 607655 160610 / TR 076605   

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