Paxton's Tower
Encyclopedia
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
erected in honour of Lord Nelson. It is situated on a hilltop near Llanarthney
Llanarthney
Llanarthney is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, located 12 kilometres to the east of Carmarthen and 10 kilometres to the south-west of Llandeilo. It has a population of 738, of whom 61% are Welsh-speaking .- Amenities :...
in the Towy Valley, Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is a visitor attraction that can be combined with a visit to the nearby National Botanic Garden of Wales
National Botanic Garden of Wales
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is situated near Llanarthney in the Towy Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical research and conservation, and features the world's largest single-span glasshouse measuring long by wide.NBGW seeks...
. Its hilltop location provides views over the Botanic Gardens and the Towy valley. The tower is under care of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
History
Built by Sir William PaxtonWilliam Paxton (businessman)
Sir William Paxton , was a Scottish-born sailor, businessman and later Welsh Member of Parliament for Carmarthen, who helped in the early Victorian age to develop the seaside resort of Tenby.-Early life:...
(1745-1824), a Scottish-born but London-raised merchant and banker, whose forefathers were from Auchencrow
Auchencrow
Auchencrow is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, by the Lammermuir range of hills, and near Reston.-Etymology:The modern name, Auchencrow, tends to obscure the question of origins. A Gaelic origin is accepted by Watson and Nicholaisen...
by Paxton Berwickshire
Paxton, Scottish Borders
Paxton is a small village near the B6461 and the B6460, in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region of Scotland. It lies 1 mile west of the border with Northumberland, near Berwick-upon-Tweed...
. Paxton made his first fortune while with the HEIC
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
in Calcutta with Charles Cockerell
Sezincote House
Sezincote is a British estate, located in Gloucestershire, England. It was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell in 1805, and is a notable example of Neo-Mughal architecture, a 19th-century reinterpretation of 16th and 17th-century Mughal architecture from the Mughal Empire.Sezincote is dominated by...
, brother of the architect. He purchased the Middleton Hall
National Botanic Garden of Wales
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is situated near Llanarthney in the Towy Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical research and conservation, and features the world's largest single-span glasshouse measuring long by wide.NBGW seeks...
estate about 1790 and built this tower circa 1806-1809. Designed by the architect, Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell was an English architect. He was the son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezincote House, Gloucestershire, where the uniquely Orientalizing features...
(1754-1827), Middleton Hall was destroyed by fire in 1931.
Paxton may have been inspired to build the tower by Nelson's death at Trafalgar
Trafalgar
-Places:* Cape Trafalgar in south west Spain* Trafalgar Square in London, commemorating the British naval victory* Trafalgar, Indiana, a town in the United States of America* Trafalgar Township, a former municipality in Ontario, Canada...
. Whilst in the office of mayor of Carmarthen
Carmarthen
Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
, he may have met Nelson in person. Marble tablets dedicating the tower to Nelson were located above the entrances to the tower.
Construction
The tower is 36 feet high. The lower part of the tower is triangular in shape with a turret at each corner. On the first floor there is a banqueting room. Colored glass from one of the windows can now be seen in the Carmarthen Museum at AbergwiliAbergwili
Abergwili is a village in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, lying near to the junction of River Towy and River Gwili.- Bishop's Palace :It is known for its Bishop's Palace, home to the Bishop of St David's since 1542, when Bishop William Barlow transferred his palace from St David's to Abergwili,...
. On the second floor there is a hexagonal prospect room surrounded by roof terraces. The windows to the prospect room are now bricked up. There is currently public access to the first floor banqueting room via stairs in one of the corner turrets.