architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Folly, garden history, Kent, Tower

Scott’s Tower, Horsmonden, Kent: A a towering tribute to a literary legend

A postcard sent in 1936, courtesy of a private collection.

250 years ago, on 15 August 1771, the poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh. One of Scott’s greatest fans was, to give him his full title, The Reverend Sir William Marriott Smith Marriott Bart M.A.* (1801-1864), rector of Horsmonden in Kent. Here, as part of improvements to the rectory’s grounds, Marriott built an eye-catcher tower dedicated to Scott, now sadly lost.