Reform Tower, Derbyshire

The Reform Tower, also known as the Earl Grey Tower in Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, is a monument to the 1832 Reform Act.

It was built around 1833 by the Thornhill family to commemorate Earl Grey, the Whig Prime Minister who supported the 'Act to amend the representation of the people in England and Wales'.

There is speculation that William Pole Thornhill, with his 'strong dedication to reform', built the tower celebrating the passing of the Reform Act so that it was visible from the property of the 5th Duke of Rutland, a Tory.

The tower is made of blocks of gritstone. A doorway on the east face is now bricked in, but previously a staircase allowed visitors to see the view from the roof of the tower. A niche above the doorway originally had a plaque with a coronet and 'Earl Grey 1832'.

340m
371yds
STANTON
MOOR
quarry
quarries
HILLCAR
WOOD
mast
'Nine Ladies'
stone circle
Reform Tower
Map of Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, showing the Reform Tower

It was first listed as a Grade II listed building in July 1967.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.