A Towering Presence, Hadlow

Today's image was taken on a short trip out to Hadlow and is a shot of Hadlow Tower as it looms out of the mist as viewed from the village's St Mary's churchyard.
Hadlow Tower, known locally as Mary's Folly, is a Victorian Gothic tower and one of the tallest in Britain at 53 meters (175 feet), with the top 12 metres (40 feet) being an octagonal lantern.
It was originally part of Hadlow Castle - an 18th Century country house built in the Strawberry Hill 'Gothic' style which was enlarged and extended during the 19th Century before finally being demolished in the 20th Century, apart from the tower and some ancillary buildings.
The tower was badly damaged in the Great Storm of 1987 and its condition worsened rapidly over the following years with the cost of repairs being estimated at £4 million pounds by July 2006. It was eventually compulsorily purchased by the local borough council and repairs carried out after securing grants from English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund with restoration finally being completed in February 2013, making it the tallest folly in the UK.
The extra is my brother's image of the scene that greeted us just before we started a stroll around Broadview Gardens in the grounds of the nearby Hadlow College (his other images of which can be seen on his individual journal - www.blipfoto.com/entry/3319372330492235124 ).

Groggster