Rising 175 feet above the Kent countryside, Hadlow Tower is difficult to ignore. The Grade I listed Gothic tower has been called May's Folly and even the Rapunzel Tower. Yet its most irresistible story concerns a husband, an estranged wife and a very tall viewpoint.
Hadlow Castle was developed by the wealthy May family. In 1838 Walter Barton May began adding the extraordinary octagonal tower, designed by architect George Ledwell Taylor.
At eight storeys and around 175 feet high, it was a dramatic statement of wealth and architectural ambition.
Then comes the scandalous part - and an important distinction.
Local legend says Walter's marriage had broken down and his wife had left him for her childhood home at nearby Fish Hall. The story claims Walter built the tower high enough to watch her from afar, even adding the upper lantern when the original height was not sufficient.
It is a fabulous tale. It is also a legend rather than an established historical fact.
The more prosaic explanation is that the tower was a fashionable Gothic folly and an enormous display of status, visible for miles across the Kent landscape.
Yet perhaps that uncertainty is exactly why the story survives. Was Hadlow Tower simply extravagant architecture? Or did heartbreak help send it higher into the sky?
Whatever the truth behind the legend, the unforgettable tower still dominates Hadlow today.
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