Pelhams Pillar Cabourne High Wood

Pelham's Pillar in Cabourne High Wood is a tower built between 1840 and 1849 by E. J. Willson. It features a limestone ashlar exterior and a cream brick interior, topped with a square dome covered in fish-scale tiles and an urn finial. The tower is accessed by three steps leading up to a tall, three-stepped base with roll moulding. On the north-east side, there are two lions—one sleeping and one waking—set on high pediments that flank a flight of nine steps leading to a four-panelled door with a lugged architrave. A plaque above the door commemorates Charles Anderson Pelham, Lord Marborough, who planted 12,532,700 trees in Cabourne High Wood from 1787 to 1828, and notes that the pillar was constructed between 1840 and 1849. Rising 128 feet above the base, the rectangular tower has eight slit lights on the north-east and south-east sides, and nine on the north-west and south-west sides. The top of the tower tapers to a Roman Doric capital, with a square turret above that features an arched window, mock balustrades, and a wreathed oculus on each face.