King Alfred and his triangular tower
It is not for nothing that I do not get tired of repeating that it is just the trouble with these Englishmen. Sometimes they will make a hotel from the prison, then they will build the three-sided tower. King Alfred’s Tower. Weird and wonderful at the same time.
Well as a foreigner, I was drawn to inspect it on the most cloudy and rainy day. I wanted the most realistic English experience, as you understand.
We happily walked through the mud along the path to the tower. Or rather, Lee was mashing quite happily, he had rubber boots like a normal average Englishman, and he wasn’t afraid to use them. And I… what about me? However, I never liked those shoes.
The door, alas, was closed. So, we were unable to climb the 205 steps up to the top. However, Lee says, he climbed it once and the view according to him is absolutely stunning!
King Alfred the Great rallied the West Saxons and under his command in 878 defeated the evil and nasty Vikings. Legends say the king’s army gathered near the place where the tower now stands before the battle.
The most interesting thing is that the tower is empty inside, and only in one of the three corners there is a spiral staircase and climbing it is still a pleasure.
Why three sides? Well, it could be the tower itself looks at three different counties with three its sides or it could just be that it was built three sides to save money as less bricks were needed.
The tower, named after King Alfred, was finally completed in 1772 in honour of the victory in the Seven Years’ War and in honour of the ascension to the throne of King George III.
And now for more than 200 years has been standing tall in the English county of Somerset.
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