King Alfred's Tower

If you are visiting nearby Stourhead then why not walk half a mile or so to see one of the great follies of the UK.

Follow the blue waymarkers on this circular walk of historic interest, through beautiful woodlands to King Alfred's Tower. The route then continues to Grade I listed St. Peter's Pump, through Six Wells valley and past Stourhead House.

You will be able to see the tower itself from some distance away. It is an impressive edifice, but remember that King Alfred's Tower is a folly; a building that arguably serves no particular purpose. Nevertheless its size and beauty make it an imposing addition to the landscape, and the views from the top are breathtaking.

The project to build the tower was conceived in 1762 by the banker Henry Hoare II (1705-1785), owner of Stourhead and creator of its famous garden, known to his family as 'the Magnificent'. The tower was intended to commemorate the end of the Seven Years War against France and the accession of King George III, and supposedly stands near the location of 'Egbert's stone' where it is believed that Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, rallied the Saxons in May 878 before the important Battle of Ethandun (now Edington, south-east of Trowbridge) where the Danish army was defeated.

The tower is 49m (160ft) high, and is triangular in plan, with round projections at each of the three corners. One of these, furthest from the entrance door, has a spiral staircase within it by which visitors can climb the 205 steps to the top, where there is a platform with a crenellated parapet. The staircase is not well illuminated, with only ten small openings to admit a little daylight. The centre of the tower is hollow and open to the elements; in recent years a mesh has been placed over the opening at the top to prevent birds from entering the tower. The total girth of the tower is approximately 51m (168ft), which means that the tower's circumference and height are about the same.

It is said that when originally built, the tower stood at the union of the boundaries of the counties of Somerset, Wiltshire, and Dorset, with one corner of the triangular base in each county and that in more recent times the Dorset boundary was moved so that the tower now just straddles the Wiltshire-Somerset border. 

The 'front' (south-east) face of the tower has the gothic-arched entrance door, a statue of King Alfred, and a stone panel bearing an inscription. This is the face that most visitors see first when walking from Stourhead garden or from the nearby car park.

"Alfred's Tower is a monument to the genius of English landscape, many of whose loveliest haunts it commands, and to a man who certainly deserves to be remembered as among the great benefactors of the English scene."

Christopher Hussey, Country Life magazine, 11th June 1938.