A little east of the hamlet of Azerley, near Kirkby Malzeard, stands a pretty little cottage with a most unusual feature – from the back of the building rises a slender castellated tower. It was built by the Crompton family of Azerley Hall as a belvedere from which the ‘prospects of the most picturesque description’ were obtained, but it also served as a vantage point to look out for poachers.

Azerley Hall had been a seat of the Dawson family, but was offered to let in 1830 after the death of William Dawson two years earlier. It was described as a ‘Desirable Country Residence’ with outbuildings and pleasure grounds in a ‘genteel neighbourhood’. Robert Edward Crompton (1805-1840) was in residence in the 1830s, and the cottage and tower are believed to have been built soon after 1839 (the tower does not appear on the tithe map of that year, but does appear on the O.S. map surveyed between 1849 and 1853).

In 1861 the tenants were John Jackson and William Wilkinson, both described a few years earlier as ‘game watchers in the employ of Col Crompton’. This was Edward’s brother, Joshua Samuel Crompton (1799-1881). Despite the presence of the look-out tower the problems with poachers continued, particularly under cover of darkness, and being a game watcher was a dangerous job. In 1856 Jackson was pelted with rocks by a trespasser, and a year later an intruder attempted to shoot him. Fortuitously, the gun failed, and the poacher was caught and jailed.

The tower also had a more refined use as an observatory ‘from whence to survey the country, not the heavens’, and the rooftop gave a ‘most extensive and interesting view of the surrounding country’. This view often featured the Bedale Hounds in action, and the tower may have allowed the ladies of the family the opportunity to ‘accompany the sportsmen in the chace [sic] with their eyes, if not amazonially on horseback’ – a potential purpose of belvederes suggested by Francis Goodwin in his Rural Architecture of 1835.

The Crompton family opened the grounds of Azerley Hall (by now alternatively known as Azerley Chase) for charitable events such as the Wesleyan Sunday School treat of 1898. On that day there were games in the gardens and a tea, but the highlight was the chance to climb the tower and admire the ‘splendid panoramic view’.

Later still the tower was used by the Corps of Signallers as an army training camp: in 1911 they practised signalling between Ripon Cathedral, Kirkby Malzeard church and Azerley Tower. In the 21st century the top of the tower was put to a novel sporting purpose as a stand for firing clays at a charity clay pigeon shoot.

The whereabouts of a small stone model of the tower, which apparently once stood in front of the full-size version, remains a mystery. It was last seen in situ in 1978 but, despite an appeal for information via the local paper some 20 years later, no trace can been found today.

The cottage and tower ensemble is listed at grade II. It is a private home and there is no public access but the top of the tower can be glimpsed from public footpaths and from the road between Kirkby Malzeard and Ripon (with great care).

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Legend has it that centuries ago local ploughboys built a tower on Greygarth Hill to mark the spot where the last wolf in the region was killed. It’s a great story (but probably a myth) and the tower that stands on the spot today commemorates Queen Victoria.

A ‘Greygarth Post’ is shown on the tithe map of 1838 so historically there may have been a standing stone, or cairn, on top of the hill. This mount was used by the surveyors working on the first edition ordnance survey map in the 1850s, and it seems likely that this post was used as the triangulation point by the surveyors, as the trig point is noted but no stone or monument is marked. It must have been a reasonably substantial structure until it ‘came to grief’ in a storm in February 1893. The following year there were plans to restore the ‘Grey Garth Pinnacle’, making it three feet taller, with a weathercock on the summit and ‘comfortable seats’ at the base. Local grandees subscribed the funds.

Its is not clear if this work was carried out as soon after there appears to have been a change of plan. Instead of raising the pinnacle, a tower was constructed to mark the 1897 diamond jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria. This ‘Greygarth Monument’ is shown on the Ordnance Survey map in 1910, and the photograph below shows it looking close to collapse, sometime in the middle of the last century.

In 1984 the derelict structure was rebuilt in a truncated form as a squat tower by Kirby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish Council and Harrogate Borough Council, and the short climb from the road is rewarded with a fabulous panorama. Just watch your step: the wolves may be gone but the hill is one giant rabbit warren. You could also climb the narrow ladder to the top of the tower, but as Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp pointed out in Follies, Grottoes and Garden Buildings, after the giddy ascent of all of ten feet the ‘view is similar’.

Dallowgill Moor was a favoured spot of the Marquess of Ripon of Studley Royal, and was much resorted to in the shooting season. Many distinguished guests, including George V (as Prince of Wales and as King) joined the shooting parties as the Marquess was famed for the quality of his sport and his hospitality. In 1923 he died on Dallowgill Moor after a day of shooting, and another monument on the moor marks the spot where he died. The stone remembers him as ‘the finest shot in England’.

Adding a much needed burst of colour to The Folly Flâneuse’s visit on a dank December day was the Crackpots Mosaic Trail. This series of plaques was introduced into the landscape in 1997 to celebrate the designation of Nidderdale as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Dallowgill is fairly remote with only a cluster of buildings nearby which includes a lovely Methodist chapel (rebuilt in 1885). The local congregation must have been small, but Methodists being hardy souls they cycled out from Ripon and the surrounding villages on high-days and holidays. In June 1894, after the annual service to celebrate the anniversary of the chapel’s completion, the party had ‘an enjoyable ramble after tea amongst the ferns and gnats’. Simple pleasures.

For the Crackpots Trail https://nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Crackpots-Mosaic-Trail_web2017.pdf

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