The Burton Pynsent Monument on Troy Hill at Burton Pynsent, within the parish of

Curry Rivel Curry Rivel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Somerton and east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 2,148. The parish includes the hamlet of Burton Pynsent. History The ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, was built in 1767 and has been designated as a Grade I

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 ...

. Alternative names for the tower, which stands on Troy Hill, a spur of high ground about 700 m north-east of Burton Pynsent House, include the ''Curry Rivel Column'', ''Pynsent Column'', ''Pynsent Steeple'' or ''Cider Monument''. The monument, which is clad in Portland Stone, was designed by Capability Brown and built by Philip Pear, at a cost of £2,000, for William Pitt as a monument to Sir William Pynsent, of the

Pynsent Baronets The Pynsent Baronetcy, of Erthfont in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 13 September 1687 for William Pynsent, subsequently Member of Parliament for Devizes. The second Baronet was member of par ...

. There is a legend that Pynsent was grateful to Pitt for opposing a ten shilling tax on a hogshead of cider ( 1763 Cider Bill), which would have affected his business, so on his death he left his entire estate to Pitt. However, Pynsent signed his will before the Cider Tax was ever proposed. Pitt certainly opposed the tax, but that was because the legislation would have allowed the Revenue men to enter people's homes to check whether cider was being made, and he believed that an Englishman's home is his castle and no-one should enter uninvited. Pitt then used some of the income from the estate (£3000 ''per annum'') to erect the monument to his benefactor. In June 1948 it was reported that a heifer climbed the 172 steps to the top of the monument, but was later returned safely to her hillside pasture.Milwaukee Journal 15 June 1948 The tower was restored in the 1990s by the John Paul Getty Trust and

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

References

{{Commons category, Burton Pynsent Monument Towers completed in 1767 Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset Monuments and memorials in Somerset Monumental columns in the United Kingdom Grade I listed monuments and memorials Observation towers in the United Kingdom 1767 establishments in England

See also

References