Survey Data
Reg No
12325028
Rating
National
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
Monument
Historical Use
Water tower
In Use As
Monument
Date
1805 - 1815
Coordinates
245042, 122585
Date Recorded
05/07/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding single-bay three-stage memorial tower, begun post-1808, on an octagonal plan. Abandoned, pre-1814. Consolidated, c.1950, with top stage completed to accommodate additional use as water tower. Roof not visible behind parapet. Random rubble stone walls with engaged pillars to first and to second stage, tooled limestone ashlar stringcourse to second stage, rendered stringcourse to top stage, and unpainted rendered walls to top stage having rendered coping. Pointed-arch blind panels to first stage on two tooled cut-limestone steps (forming stepped base) with squared rubble stone voussoirs. Lancet blind panels to second stage on limestone ashlar course having rubble stone voussoirs. Set on an island site at junction of three roads.
Appraisal
A very important memorial tower begun by Frederick Ponsonby (1758-1844), third Earl of Bessborough as a monument to a son presumed to have perished in the Peninsular War (1808-14) but abandoned on his safe return from battle. A severe Gothic style conveys a dour tone appropriate to a funereal monument with the austere quality of the composition heightened by the series of blind openings on each level. An almost-Brutalist top stage lacking any superfluous detail continues the sombre nature of the piece with the resulting structure occupying an important island site at the junction of three roads presenting a dramatic and prominent landmark of some Romantic quality in the streetscape.