Clopton Tower, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire

On the northern edge of Stratford upon Avon is Clopton House, a handsome mansion which once stood in an extensive park. In 1837 Charles Thomas Warde inherited the Clopton estate from his uncle, and his improvements included this attractive castellated prospect tower.

Warde (1813-1865) built the prospect tower as a landmark for the hunt and a belvedere from which to admire the countryside. A painting dated 1838 shows Clopton House as it looked when he inherited, although Warde’s dogs and horses dominate the foreground.

Although we may admire the tower, unfortunately its builder was not so worthy of commendation. Initially a model squire, Warde was appointed High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1846. But by 1860 he was featured in the press for all the wrong reasons. He was accused of ‘immoral conduct’ and castigated for ‘disgraceful squabbles’ which included assaulting his mistress, Miss Hooper, the mother of several of his children. He was accused of selling her clothes and having her imprisoned (as well as an even less savoury event involving ‘improper intercourse’). His wife had, perhaps unsurprisingly, left him some 12 years earlier.

Warde died in 1865 and his heirs sold the Clopton estate in 1873, with the ‘prospect tower’ noted in the sales particulars. In 1891 Clopton House was the seat of the Hodgson family, and ‘The Tower’ had by then been converted to a dwelling and was home to Charles James, a farm labourer. The estate changed hands again in 1930, when the purchaser was the Beecham family. Utica, first wife of Sir Thomas Beecham, made it her home (the couple lived largely separate lives, and were divorced in 1942). The tower remained a home until the middle of the twentieth century, becoming increasingly dilapidated, until in the 1960s Utica Beecham offered it for sale.

In 1969 the Coventry Evening Telegraph reported that were a ‘homeseeker with unusual tastes’ to walk into the estate agents and ask ‘Do you have a detached tower with a turret and battlements, nice and handy for town?’, the answer would be a resounding ‘Yes’.

The agent boasted of a great deal of interest and in January 1970 it was reported that the purchaser was a young London architect who planned to restore the tower as his home. The price was reported as ‘near £2,500’. Planning permission was granted for an extension to house a bedroom and bathroom, but work did not immediately begin, and in 1972 a local councillor asked for reassurance that the decaying fabric of the main fabric be dealt with ‘very soon’.

By 1974 the architect had concluded that for ‘personal reasons’ he was unable to move to Stratford upon Avon, and the tower was put up for sale at £13,000. Despite the agents again reporting a ‘tremendous amount of interest’, the tower was still on the market in 1975 for £9,500 and in 1976 for £8,750.

Eventually a sale was agreed, and the new owners extended the property. The tower changed hands again in 1984, when it was offered for sale by auction. The house was on the market again recently, when it was noted that the original footprint had ‘increased threefold’. Visiting in late June the Flâneuse found renovations underway.

The tower is listed at grade II. It remains a private house, but can be seen from public roads and footpaths. Clopton House has now been converted into apartments.

The obelisk seen across the fields from the tower was not on the Clopton estate but was a feature of the grounds of the adjacent Welcombe Manor (now a hotel). It was erected in 1876 by Robert Needham Philips to honour his brother Mark Philips.

There’s lots of information on the area here https://www.thewelcombehills.co.uk

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