Description

LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH

SS7149 THE ESPLANADE, Lynmouth
858-1/4/86 (North side)
19/07/50 Rhenish Tower

GV II

Folly, possibly intended as water tower. Mid to late C19, "...
gift of General Rawdon...", badly damaged 1952, rebuilt 1954.
Rubble, some brickwork.
A square tower with battered sides, set directly on the Quay
(qv); at the top are 2 balconies in brickwork, carried on
brick machicolations, plus a small brick turret carrying an
open brazier, and a rubble unit with raked top, over a
doorway. At quay level, on the S side, is a plank entrance
door, and to its right a throughway giving access to the quay,
with an opening to the E, facing the river estuary.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the tower has variously been attributed to
the late C18 and early C19, but there is evidence that it was
not there, for instance, in 1831. Built at first without the
machicolated balconies, these were added, because the tower
was regarded by some as an eyesore. Practically destroyed by
the great 1952 flood, a stone on the tower records: 'Destroyed
August 1952, rebuilt April 1954. Information principally from
Pugsley, 1945 (qv), who refers to an earlier writer (Tugwell,
1863), who seems to have been the first to suggest that the
design was copied from a tower on the Rhine, hence its name.
Tugwell also says that it is '... on the whole, of no great
use...', but now it is seen as an essential 'historic'
landmark for the town.
Included for historical and group value.
(Transactions of the Devonshire Association: Pugsley HW: The
Tower on Lynmouth Pier: Exeter: 1945-: 191).

Listing NGR: SS7225849666

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Rhenish Tower at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26505314

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)