Horton Tower Dorset UK

At 140 feet high this Folly was built in 1750 by architect and Lord of Horton Manor, Humphrey Sturt, who was also an MP for Dorset (1745 - 1786).

Also known as Sturt's folly, the reasons for its original construction remain unclear, but one theory suggests its owner planned to use the tower as an observatory, stargazing in the night sky.
Other reasons point to it as place where Sturt could observe hunting, high up the tower with views for miles around.

It's a grand and gothic five storey red brick tower, but over the years it had fallen into a state of disrepair
and had become not much more than a shell.

In recent years, the tower has found a new purpose as a place to house mobile phone signal masts - fixed
discreetly to its sides, near the top of the tower - with mobile phone company Vodafone undertaking some
restoration work after they received planning permission to attach the masts.