King Alfred’s Tower, South Brewham, Bruton, Somerset
King Alfred’s Tower stands 59m (160ft) high on the Stourhead Estate, just over 3 miles from Stourhead house and gardens, so if you have the time and your walking boots, stroll out to it when you visit. Otherwise, park in the small car park just off the Frome road and it’s an amble of only a few hundred metres.
The tower is surrounded by a wildflower meadow and woodlands where roe deer can be spotted feeding (dusk is the best time). Unusually. It has a triangular structure and when it’s open, you can climb the 205 steps of the spiral staircase to reach the viewing platform at the top for staggering views over three counties. The burn on the thighs is well worth the effort for such reward.
And it’s history? Believed to be close to the site where Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, raised his standard way back in 870 before the Battle of Edington, the tower was designed for Sir Henry Hoare II, the second owner of Stourhead, and built in 1722 to commemorate King George III coming to the throne and the end of the Seven Years war against France.
All information correct at the time of writing