TOWER AT NGR SJ 41066 34863

The tower, built between 1826 and 1842 for Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, is made of yellow sandstone ashlar with red sandstone dressings. It features a machine tile broached spire topped with a richly ornamented wrought-iron weathervane, showcasing a Venetian style. The bottom stage has a rectangular section with a decorative gable above a cusped 2-light window, and a bracketed stone balcony beneath it on the south side. There is a pointed doorway on the east side. A corbelled stone balcony with pierced trefoils in the balustrade surrounds the upper stage, which supports a gabled octagonal top with narrow pointed windows facing the cardinal directions and stepped chamfered projections on the sides. Charles Kynaston Mainwaring was an enthusiastic amateur gardener who traveled extensively in Europe, and he is believed to have designed much of the garden at Oteley, as well as its features. His house, Oteley Park, was built in an Elizabethan style on the site of an earlier building between 1826 and 1830 and was extended in 1842 before being demolished around 1960.