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Horton folly tower is hard to miss sat high on a hill, and the 140 foot tall structure will be seen on the horizon at some stage, irrespective of what direction you approach it from. This is one of my favourites, being a beautifully designed tower that was built by a Humphrey Sturt early in the 1700`s. The story attached to it ( they all have stories behind their construction it seems, not necessarily true - but always interesting ) is that Mr Sturt used it to watch hunting when he was in his old age.

All photographs on this page submitted by and copyright of Gary Player




Interior
Bearing in mind the size of this construction it seems he must have been a keen hunter in his youth to have gone to all this trouble.
The first four floors are triangular in shape with the next two forming a hexagonal tower on top.
Until recently the tower was in a very sad state of repair having been neglected by the landowners. It was possible to stand inside the tower and look up the vast empty interior at the sky, as all the wooden floors had long gone. If I remember correctly there were the remains of a fireplace perched on the wall where each floor would have been.

Modern Day Enhancements
Thankfully it has been taken over by a phone company who completely restored it, put a roof back on, and put their aerials on the face of the tower. These can be seen either side of all the topmost windows. They are not that obtrusive and have given the building a chance to survive and probably most of the original objectors to this change of use would have to agree with this.
The tower featured in the film of Thomas Hardy`s
"Far From The Madding Crowd".

Visiting:- A bridle path runs right alongside the tower giving excellent access to view it, though obviously the tower is not open. (If only they all were!)



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    Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :- Liam Davies.

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