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All the United Kingdom England Stourton King Alfred's Tower
AO Edited

King Alfred's Tower

Gothic tower mentioned in Thomas Hardy poem "The Channel Firing."

Stourton, England

Added By
Christopher Linton
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King Alfred’s Tower.   http://image63.webshots.com/63/1/93/14/268...
Statue of King Alfred above the entrance.   http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...
  Adrian Farwell
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King Alfred's tower is one of many "follies" built in Britain. Follies are those buildings erected by the upper classes during the heights of British power for the sole purpose of displaying wealth and entertaining friends. This particular folly was built to celebrate a victory by the Saxon, King Alfred, over the Danes in AD 878 and is the legendary site where the King raised his standard prior to the battle.

Built by the Hoare banking family, the triangular tower is constructed from over one million red bricks and stands 50 meters in height. Work on the tower began in 1762 and was completed in 1779 with the addition of a ten-foot-high statue of King Alfred in an alcove above the entrance.

This tower was mentioned in a poem by the British poet, Thomas Hardy, in his poem entitled “The Channel Firing” written in 1914.

Damage to the tower occurred during World War II when an American plane crashed into it, severely damaging the upper 10 meters of the structure. The turret was repaired in 1986 with a helicopter, which was used to lower the new cone onto the tower. Today visitors can once again climb the stairs to the viewing platform at the top.

Related Tags

Architectural Oddities Follies And Grottoes Architecture

Know Before You Go

The tower is signposted from the B3092. There is a National Trust car park marked for the tower, which is a hundred yards away across the road. 

There is a rough path to the tower through a field which can get very muddy.

Community Contributors

Added By

ronin

Edited By

adrianfarwell, Blindcolour, zydeko, jooniur

  • adrianfarwell
  • Blindcolour
  • zydeko
  • jooniur

Published

October 26, 2010

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Sources
  • King Alfred's Tower: Where Is It?: http://www.alfredstower.info/WhereIsIt.aspx
  • InfoBritain: King Alfred's Tower, Wiltshire: http://www.infobritain.co.uk/King_Alfred's_Tower.htm
King Alfred's Tower
Stourhead Estate
Stourton, England, BA12 6QF
United Kingdom
51.105, -2.31556
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