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Perrott's Folly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
History
of the building
The
tower is one of Birmingham's oldest architectural features. Built in
1758 by John Perrot, who lived in Belbroughton, the tower still stands
high above the local residential and business housing.
Reason
for construction
Many
stories exist to explain why the tower was built. One is that John
Perrot owned a lot of land around the tower and he wanted to be able to
survey what he owned and perhaps when entertaining guests use the tower
to spot animals that he and his friends would later ride out on horses
to hunt.
Another
is that he built the tower so that he could see his wife's grave, ten
miles away. Though this would have been possible at the time, buildings
constructed since have obscured the view.
Use
as a weather observatory
During
the period from 1884 to 1979 the tower was used as a weather recording
station. In 1966 the Geography Department of the University of
Birmingham took over the running of the observatory until operations
were transferred to the main campus.
The
Tolkien connection
Tolkien
lived within a few miles of the tower for much of his childhood. Local
lore has long held that Perrott's Folly, along with a nearby tower for
Edgbaston Waterworks, were the inspirations for the Two Towers, after
which the second volume of Lord of the Rings is named. The windows down
the side of Perrott's Folly are similar to Tolkien's sketches of
Orthanc and the waterworks tower has a smaller section rising above the
parapet similar to Tolkien's representation of Minas Morgul.
Future
prospects
Due to
years of under-investment and neglect as well as a small local
earthquake the building is currently unsafe for the public to climb.
Large cracks, near the base of the tower, have been caused by
subsidence.
The
Perrott's Folly Company was formed in 1984 to renovate the tower, in
order for it to be accessible to the public. The company has obtained
grants from English Heritage and Birmingham City Council to try and
secure the building but still needs approximately £300,000 to secure
the building. In its present state the building has only a few years
until the damage the building has sustained is beyond repair.
See also
perrotts.htm
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