Sway Tower, follies and folly towers at follytowers.com (original) (raw)

The main Sway Tower steals all the glory when you visit the area, and what is often overlooked - or more likely not known by most - is the smaller tower which was built first of all.
It is in my mind, and probably to a lot of other people, considerably more elegant than the nearby main tower.

Concrete
It is built of unreinforced concrete in the Italianate style, and I would estimate [from memory] that it is about 50 foot tall, consisting of 6 floors that were accessed by an internal spiral staircase, which can just be glimpsed in the internal gloom when standing close up.

I do not at the present time know when Andrew Thomas Turton Peterson, to give his full name, had the tower built, it was however prior to 1879 when the main tower was started.
It also seems that at some later time it may have served the purpose of a water tower, as the remains of a water pipe can still be seen attached to one side [in the lower photograph].

Cracked
The condition now of the tower is sadly very poor, as it is left abandoned and relatively unknown in the shadow (maybe literally at times) of the main tower.
There is also a huge crack evident that runs from top to bottom, so with time this piece of history will surely fall down.

There is no access to the tower, the only entrance into the tower on its northern side, has in fact now been bricked up. The tower is located 150 metres due north of the large main tower, close to the junction of Barrow Lane with Flexford Lane, set back off Barrow Lane by about 30 metres in trees. In summer it is difficult to see because of the dense foliage.