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King Alfred's Tower, Wiltshire

In AD 878 King Alfred was the last Saxon English king holding out against the Danes. His kingdom of Wessex, an area that includes modern Dorset, Wiltshire and Shropshire, was the only part of the British Isles where Danish influence was still resisted. With the Danes seemingly in an unassailable position, Alfred took refuge in the swamps of Athelney. In a last desperate attempt at resistance Alfred rallied his west country troops at a place known as Egbert's Stone. Where Egbert's Stone was exactly is unknown, but local legend suggests Kingsettle Hill in Wiltshire. Alfred then went on to fight the decisive battle of Edington twelve miles away from Kingsettle Hill. Against the odds he defeated the Danes, and then acted magnanimously towards the Danish leader. This act of conciliation set England on the long road towards becoming a single country.

Today Kingsettle Hill is the site of King Alfred's Tower, a huge folly built on the Stourhead estate. It was built by the Hoare family who made a fortune in banking in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. This was a time of great confidence for Britain, and it must have seemed the right time to build a massive folly commemorating one of the decisive moments in the formation of the country.

There are wonderful views of the Stourhead estate and the surrounding countryside from the top.

Opening Times: The Tower is open from 15th of March to 2nd November, 11.30am - 4.30pm,seven days a week. Last entry at 4pm.

 

Coach route approaching King Alfred's Tower from the Stourhead estate.

Directions: from the B3092 take the Tower Road through Kilmington Common. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on King Alfred's Tower. Alternatively you can walk the coach path from the main Stourhead estate.

Access: There is a grassy path approach to the Tower, which can only be climbed by the able-bodied. Braille, large print and tactile guides of the Stourhead estate are available at Stourhead.

 

 

 

Contact:

phone: 01747 841152

web site: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-stourhead.htm