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Like Gaudí's El Capricho in Comillas or the pavilions, pavilions and other

romantic buildings

in El Capricho park in Madrid, the King Alfredo tower is useless.

Not at all practical.

It has not been a lookout for anything nor has it ever housed a princess with long, very long hair.

It was conceived in 1762 by a banker whom his own family called "Henry the Magnificent."

A guy with charisma, money and the desire to spend it on art.

Also very

fond of landscaping

.

Henry Hoare, his full name, designed the famous

Stourhead

Gardens

, the recreational estate

he inherited from his father at the age of 19 and which since 1946 has been part of the National Trust, the organization that encompasses places of historical or natural interest that do not They belong to the British Crown.

Thanks to Henry the Magnificent, Stuorhead became a sensational orchard with a collection of ten

follies

or whims scattered through a forest around an idyllic lake where his guests enjoyed the fresh air.

They, like any visitor today, could choose between strolling to a Pantheon -the largest folklore in the place- that emulates that of Rome, or heading to the Temple of Apollo, crossing the

Palladian bridge

and getting lost among all kinds of caves, obelisks , sculptures and artificial waterfalls. 

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"A mecca for follies enthusiasts in the UK", as the British magazine

Countryfile

dubbed it

, it also has a temple dedicated to Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, gardens and spring where Hoare had an inscription carved in Latin that says "Stay away, any layman, stay away", with which the banker wanted to warn visitors that they should prepare

to feel something magical

when entering this insurmountable landscape.

Farther from the main follies and the lake, but also surrounded by that fairy tale halo, King Alfred's tower stands in the middle of the forest about

4 kilometers from Stourhead House

, the main mansion.

An excursion between trees and fields of flowers of the many that this privileged corner of the English countryside offers.

King Alfred's Tower is

49 meters high

.

Built between 1762 and 1779, it is designed by the architect Henry Flitcroft who used more than a million red bricks.

It is believed to mark the place where King Alfred the Great assembled his troops in 878. The tower commemorates George III's accession to the throne in 1760 and the end of the Seven Years' War.

The triangular tower is hollow, but has an interior staircase (205 steps) to climb to the top.

From there you can take in the spectacular views that reach the counties of Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset.

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According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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