Volta Tower was a

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 ...

in the town of

Finedon Finedon is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 4,309. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed, Finedon (then known as Tingdene) was a large royal manor, previously held by Queen Edith, wif ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, England. It was built in 1865 and collapsed in 1951.

History

The Volta Tower was built in 1865 by William Harcourt Isham Mackworth-Dolben of

Finedon Hall Finedon Hall is a Victorian country house in Finedon, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade II listed building. History The core of the house is 17th or 18th century, and was extensively remodelled by William Harcourt Isham Mackworth Dolben (1806 ...

. William Mackworth (1806—72), a younger son of Sir Digby Mackworth, the 3rd Baronet, had taken the additional surname Dolben after he married Frances, the heiress of Sir John English Dolben, the 4th Baronet. Mackworth-Dolben built the tower to commemorate the death of his eldest son,

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

William Digby Dolben, who had drowned off the west coast of Africa on 1 September 1863, aged 24. William, serving on HMS ''Investigator'', drowned crossing the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

when the

gig Gig or GIG may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Gig'' (Circle Jerks album) (1992) * ''Gig'' (Northern Pikes album) (1993) * ''The Gig'', a 1985 film written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy * GIG, a character in ''Hot Wheels AcceleRacers'' ...

, a four-oar

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

was swamped. His younger brother, the poet

Digby Mackworth Dolben Digby Augustus Stewart Mackworth Dolben (8 February 1848 – 28 June 1867) was an English poet who died young from drowning. He owes his poetic reputation to his cousin, Robert Bridges, poet laureate from 1913 to 1930, who edited a partial edition ...

, drowned aged nineteen in 1867. The tower was circular and about high. A gabled extension of one of the two floors had been added in keeping. The tower stood off Station Road in Finedon with a long driveway in front. Finedon's cemetery was built alongside in 1892.

Collapse

Volta Tower collapsed on 16 November 1951 after standing for 86 years. At the time, John Edgar and his wife Florence lived there. Mrs (65) was inside and killed by the tower's collapse; Mr was outside and survived. The driveway to where Volta Tower stood still exists and a farm has been built on top of the tower's location as well as a bungalow. Nothing of the tower exists today apart from one carved stone figure of a cherub from close to the top of the tower which was auctioned in 2005 and bought by a Finedon resident.Gildings auction record
/ref> The tower is commemorated in Finedon's town sign.

References

External links

"The Volta Tower official website"

Sources

*John Bailey, ''Finedon Revealed'', 1987, *John Bailey, ''Look at Finedon'', 2005, {{coord, 52, 20, N, 0, 39, W, region:GB_type:city, display=title Buildings and structures in Northamptonshire Folly towers in England Towers completed in 1865 Towers in Northamptonshire Finedon