Paxton's Tower is a

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

erected in honour of

Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

. It is situated on the top of a hill near

Llanarthney Llanarthney ( cy, Llanarthne; ) is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales. Situated on the B4300 road 12 km (7.5 miles) east of Carmarthen and 10 km (6 miles) west of Llandeilo, the community had a population at the ...

in the

River Tywi The River Towy ( cy, Afon Tywi, ) is one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales. Its total length is . It is noted for its sea trout and salmon fishing. Route The Towy rises within of the source of the River Teifi on the lower slo ...

valley in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is a visitor attraction that can be combined with a visit to the nearby

National Botanic Garden of Wales The National Botanic Garden of Wales ( cy, Gardd Fotaneg Genedlaethol Cymru) is a botanical garden located in Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical rese ...

. Its high location provides views over the Botanic Gardens and the Tywi valley. The tower, a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, is under the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The surrounding parkland is registered at Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

History

The tower was built by Sir William Paxton (1745-1824), a Scottish-born and London-raised merchant and banker, whose forefathers were from Auchencrow by Paxton, Berwickshire. Paxton made his first fortune while with the

HEIC High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a container format for storing individual digital images and image sequences. The standard covers multimedia files that can also include other media streams, such as timed text, audio and video. HEIF ...

in Calcutta with Charles Cockerell, brother of the architect. He purchased the Middleton Hall estate c 1790. The tower was built c 1806-1809.Jones Paxton may have been inspired to build the tower by Nelson's death at

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England It may also refer to: Music * ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees Pl ...

. Whilst in the office of mayor of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, he may have met Nelson in person. Marble tablets dedicating the tower to Nelson were located above the entrances to the tower. Middleton Hall was designed by the architect,

Samuel Pepys Cockerell Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1753–1827) was an English architect. He was a son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the elder brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezinc ...

(1754-1827) and was destroyed by fire in 1931.

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. Coloured glass from one of the windows can now be seen in the Carmarthen Museum at

Abergwili Abergwili () is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the confluence of the rivers Towy and Gwili, close to the town of Carmarthen. It is also an electoral ward. The community includes the settlements of Peniel, Llanfihangel- ...

. 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.

''Pi''

A piece of land at the nearby

, named Paxton's View because of its views of the tower, features the sculpture ''Pi'' by Rawleigh Clay, which consists of a large metal hoop mounted by a twisted wooden structure. The hoop is designed so that it "frames" the view of Paxton's Tower, and as such has been described as a "viewing circle" for the tower.

References

* Jones, D. Middleton Hall. * Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: William Paxton

External links

Article via History System
- Delyth Jones
Paxton's Tower photo gallery
- PhotoHound
Article about Paxton's Tower
- National Trust
"Welsh History Month: Paxton's Tower, the grand neo-classical mansion in Carmarthenshire"
- Wales Online {{coord, 51, 51, 39, N, 4, 7, 58, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Folly buildings in Wales National Trust properties in Wales Tourist attractions in Carmarthenshire Towers completed in 1809 Grade II* listed buildings in Carmarthenshire Folly towers in the United Kingdom Registered historic parks and gardens in Carmarthenshire