The Headmaster's Tower, About 45 Metres North West of Old House, King's School, and Adjacent Walling to South and East is a Grade II listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 August 1984. Gazebo/folly tower.
The Headmaster's Tower, About 45 Metres North West of Old House, King's School, and Adjacent Walling to South and East
- WRENN ID
- small-cobble-ash
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Somerset
- Constituency
- Glastonbury and Somerton MP: Sarah Dyke (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 29 August 1984
- Type
- Gazebo/folly tower
- OS grid reference
- ST 682 347
- Coordinates
- 51.11127, -2.45459
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Headmaster's Tower, located about 45 metres northwest of Old House at King's School, is a gazebo or folly tower built in the early 19th century. It is constructed of red brick, likely originally rendered, with Doulting stone dressings and features lead flat roofs. Designed in the Gothic style, the tower has an octagonal plan and a circular stair turret on its west side. It stands two storeys tall and includes four-centred arched doorways on the southwest and east faces, as well as two-light trefoil headed unglazed windows on the south face and the upper east face. The structure has a plinth, string course, and battlemented parapets.
Adjacent to the tower are wing walls made of random rubble, which rise to an average height of 3 metres and extend approximately 23 metres southwards and 27 metres eastwards, with the eastern wall ending in a high square ashlar pier. The building on the northeast face of this pier is not included in the listing. The tower was erected by Headmaster Abrahall, who served from 1826 to 1864, possibly in 1834 when he extended the Old House. The walls surrounding the tower represent earlier boundaries of the school. As of September 1983, the tower is noted to be covered in ivy.
Local climate
The Headmaster's Tower, About 45 Metres North West of Old House, King's School, and Adjacent Walling to South and East receives an average of 860 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 60% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 65% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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