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The south of England though obviously not in possession of any hills that compare with those of Yorkshire or the Lake District, does however posses some good vantage points.

One of these is Leith Hill near Dorking in Surrey. On the top, at 965 feet, you will find this rather fine 64 foot tall 'Prospect Tower' - to give it the correct name.
It was built in 1765 by Richard Hull, who tells us on a stone plaque that he built it not only for his own enjoyment, but for anyone else who wished to savour the fine views it has to offer.
He even made available small telescopes for use by the tower's patrons.

Photograph by Colin Lee of Southampton

The tower at this time consisted of just two rooms, without the external turret you now see.


Mr Hull meanwhile was living at Leith Hill Place, situated to the south-west of the tower, which incidentally later came to have connections with the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Eccentric
Richard Hull had like a lot of folly builders, some rather eccentric ideas. It seems he believed that when Judgement Day occurred the world would be turned upside down.
The solution to this he decided was to be buried vertically, head downwards, and thus find himself in the correct position at the time of the resurrection.

(See Footnote)

Not un-surprisingly he also felt that being buried underneath the tower would be a pleasant place to while away the intervening period of time.
(This rumour persisted but was never really known to be true, until during restoration in 1984 his tomb was found. I am unsure as to whether he was actually found to be upside down in it though.)

Vandalism
After Mr Hull's death in 1772 the tower quickly became a target for damage by 19th century vandals which, considering it must have been known at the time that it contained a tomb is rather surprising, and shows behaviour like this is nothing new.
Eventually because of this, the interior of the tower was filled with rubble and concrete and the entrance was bricked up.

Phoenix
The tower - like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes - came back into use in 1864, when Mr Eveleyn of nearby Wotton Hall decided it would once again become a 'Prospect Tower'. The earlier concrete placed inside provided an insurmountable problem though and so the external turret that is seen now was built to gain access to the top.
A healthy climb of 75 steps allows you to see it is claimed 13 counties. Colin Lee, who has kindly supplied a couple of photographs including the one above, had perfect weather on his visit enabling him to see, "London in one direction and a bit of the English Channel through the Shoreham Gap in the other."

Modern Times
The tower is now owned and made available for access by the National Trust. The tower has been cleared internally of the concrete and rubble in-fill from the 19th century, and now houses a small display showing the history of the tower.

Note:

From Leith Hill approximately seven miles to the north-east you will find Box Hill and the grave of Major Labellière, who was also buried upside down. This time at the bottom a 100 foot shaft ! - again for the same reason of the world turning upside down on Judgement Day.
Though neither gentleman seem to have set a trend in burial habits that has continued!

For Broadband users a larger
sized (448 x 679) higher quality
image of the tower can be seen here

Co-Ords: 513960 143185 / TQ 139431   

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