Category: Alfred’s Tower / Stourton Tower (in Stourton)

A promotional flyer, attracting tourists to 
Stourton Tower (Alfred’s Tower)
on the Stourhead Estate, 
in South West Wiltshire,
circa the 1890s. The text reads:

“Stourton Tower. It’s situated two miles
from the Mansion of Stourhead, the seat
of Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare,
Bart., which has been fitly called one of
the wonders of the West of England.
The Tower, is a triangular building of
red brick, 150 feet high, occupying a
magnificent point of view, called
Kingsettle, a lofty greensward hill, 500
feet above the sea. Within sight of this
Tower is the spot where stood the
cowherd’s hut, where King Alfred took
refuge after one of his defeats by the
Danes, and in which the incident
of the burning cakes occurred,
which is so dear to all children. 
The Tower was erected about the year
1766 by Henry Hoare, Esq., 
founder of the London Banking House,
and ancestor of the present proprietor, 
in memory of Alfred the Great (A.D. 879), 
who, on this summit, erected his
standard against Danish invaders.
To him we owe the origin of Juries, 
the establishment of a Militia, 
and the creation of a Naval Force.
Alfred, the light of a benighted age, 
was a philosopher and a Christian, 
the father of his people, and the founder 
of the English monarchy and liberty.”