Thorpe Tower

Thorpe Tower is a folly tower built circa 1880. It is constructed of random knapped flint with red brick and limestone dressings. The roof is concealed behind a vertically-channelled brick parapet set on corbels. The tower is square in plan, with a central polygonal stair turret rising from a square base that forms a porch on the east elevation. Stone broaches mark the transition stage of the turret, which is lit by irregularly-spaced loops. The main tower is in five stages, with the stair rising higher in two shorter stages to provide access to the roof and culminating in a red brick belvedere with a castellated roof parapet and a corbelled base-course. Three moulded brick string courses divide the stages.

Projecting oriel windows are set on massive moulded stone corbels with segmental relieving arches on the north and south elevations at third-floor level; these oriels contain 3-light mullioned windows and tall, slim sidelights in their return walls. A 3-light mullioned window with a triangular tympanum bearing relief foliage carving is located on the west wall at the same level. A circular oriel with a castellated roof parapet is situated on the southwest corner of the top stage. The top stage features 2-light mullioned windows, with the remaining fenestration comprising single-light openings featuring quadrant-moulded reveals and segmental heads, arranged singly or in pairs. Blind first-floor quatrefoils are present on the north and south sides, and ground-floor entrances are located to the east and west. Above the west doorway, within the base of the stair turret, is a stone ribbon bearing the inscription "Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci" – a quote from Horace's Ars Poetica meaning "He has gained every point who has combined the useful and the agreeable."

At ground-floor level on the north side, a Gothic aedicule is set on two short shafts with foliate capitals, all resting on a projecting angled plinth. A shield within the aedicule's canopy bears the inscription "HM Queen Kapiolani ascended this tower 6 June 1887”. Queen Kapiolani, the Dowager Queen of Hawaii, was visiting England to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The tower is a prominent landmark at the top of the scarp slope above the River Wensum and represents a good example of an eclectic High-Victorian garden building, relatively late for a folly tower.