Eighteenth-century eye-catchers, nineteenth-century ego boosters, twentieth- century communicators, towers continually rise up into our collective consciousness. They are the landmarks of our journeys, the map pins of our personal geographies; always looked-out for, always in the corner of the eye.
Preposterous Erections brings together sixty uniquely fascinating towers from all corners of England. From the parkland Brizlee Tower in Northumberland to the coastal Stepper Point in Cornwall, Peter Ashley tells us their stories through his own very individual photographs and his witty and irreverent commentary. Although there is an obvious core of eighteenth and nineteenth-century landowner's eccentricities, the more recent past is not forgotten, including the instantly recognisable Post Office tower in London's Fitzrovia and the more retiring Lewis's department store art deco tower in Leicester. Monument or observatory, watch tower or water tower, these are sixty of the very best. Preposterous Erections will arouse the interest of even the most casual observer.
Table of Contents:
Abberley Clock Tower, Worcs
Alfred's Tower, Somerset
Balderton, Notts
Balkan Water Tower, Essex
Belle Vue, Norfolk
Belmount Tower, Lincs
Bishop's Tower, Devon
Brizlee Tower, Northumberland
Broadway Tower, Worcs
Bull's Tower, Essex
Cambridge Library Tower
Charborough Tower, Dorset
Clavell Tower, Dorset
Dunstall Castle, Worcs
East Cranmore, Somerset
Faringdon Tower, Oxon
Farley Mount, Hants
Finedon Water Tower, Northants
Fonthill Abbey, Wilts
Freston Tower, Suffolk
Goole Coal Hoist, S.Yorks
Grimsby Dock Tower, N.Lincs
Gumley Stables, Leics
Hadlow Tower, Kent
Haldon Belvedere, Devon
Hardy's Monument, Dorset
Horton Tower, Dorset
House In The Clouds, Suffolk
Keppel Column, S.Yorks
Kew Pagoda, London
Kilsby Ventilator, Northants
Lansdown Tower, Avon
Leith Hill Tower, Surrey
Lewis's Tower, Leicester
Littlestone Water Tower, Kent
Luttrell's Tower, Hants
Martlesham, Suffolk
Mistley Towers, Essex
Mow Cop, Cheshire
Old John, Leics
Peterson's Folly, Hants
Post Office Tower, London
Powderham Belvedere, Devon
Princethorpe, Warks
Rouse Lench Campanile, Worcs
Rushmore, Wilts
Severndroog Castle, London
Shooter's Hill Water Tower, London
Somerset Tower, Gloucs
Stepper Point, Cornwall
