Freston Tower is a six-storey red brick
folly south of
Ipswich,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
in the village of
Freston. It stands on the banks of the
River Orwell.
History
Construction date
Arguably the oldest
folly in
England, the tower has various claims for construction dates, ranging from the 15th to 17th centuries.
[
]
There is a legend that the tower was built by "Lord de Freston" in the 15th century for his daughter Ellen, so she could study a different subject on a different floor six days of the week: the 1st floor was dedicated to reception, the 2nd to tapestry working, the 3rd to music, the 4th to painting, the 5th to literature and the 6th to astronomy, complete with instruments for taking observations.
[
] This was written about in a novel by Reverend
Richard Cobbold
Richard Cobbold (1797 – 5 January 1877) was a British writer.
Life
Richard Cobbold was born in 1797 in the Suffolk town of Ipswich, to John (1746–1835) and the poet and writer Elizabeth (née Knipe) Cobbold (1764–1824). The Cobbolds we ...
entitled ''Freston Tower: A Tale of the Times of Cardinal Wolsey'' (1850) and so should not be taken as fact.
There is much evidence against this legend, such as documents apparently referring to the construction of the tower within the twelve years preceding 1569, and it is likely that the tower was constructed by Edmond Latymer as a lookout over Freston Reach of the
River Orwell.
There are further descriptions suggesting a construction date of 1655.
[
]
The
Landmark Trust, a historical building preservation charity and the current owner of Freston Tower, suggests the tower "was built in 1578 by a wealthy Ipswich merchant called Thomas Gooding".
[
]
Uses
By 1730, the tower was available to
let
Let or LET may refer to:
Sports
* Let serve, when the served object in certain racket sports hits the net and lands in the correct service court, such as;
** Let (badminton)
** Let (pickleball)
** Let (tennis)
* Ladies European Tour, the ladi ...
, complete with furniture.
Between 1772 and 1779, Freston Tower was used for
small-pox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...
patients under
inoculation
Inoculation is the act of implanting a pathogen or other microorganism. It may refer to methods of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases, or it may be used to describe the spreading of disease, as in "self-inoculati ...
.
Modern use
Most recently owned by Claire Hunt until 1999, Freston Tower was donated to the current owner the
Landmark Trust, a charity that rescues and restores historical buildings.
[
]
In 2004, the tower became available to let as a holiday home.
[
]
References
External links
*
detailed historical record about Freston Tower
{{Coord, 52.0127, 1.1723, region:GB-SFK_type:landmark, display=title
Folly towers in England
Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk
Landmark Trust properties in England
Towers in Suffolk
Babergh District