No Tax on Cider Traditional Cache
The Wellington Boots: Sorry, need to archive this now as tricky to get back up there. If anyone wants to adopt, let me know.
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Burton Pynsent Monument
A 30m high, clasical column with a lantern and cupola designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown, architect for William Pitt and built in 1767. Sometimes called a Prospect Tower or eyecatcher. Burton Pynsent Monument was erected by the former Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder in honour of Sir William Pynsent, who had left him the Burton Pynsent Estate in thanks for Pitt's opposition to the imposition of a tax on cider.
Coursed and squared lias rubble core with an outer skin of Portland Stone. Square plinth with set-off to base and door opening set upon a base of steps, cornice, Roman-Doric column with internal spiral staircase capped by a copola with a large urn finial; cupola has semi-circular head openings and a domed roof. Railings around base removed in the Second World War. Documents in the Public Record Office indicate that the builder was Philip Pear of Curry Rivel.
English Heritage Listed Building Number: 431251 and first listed on 17/4/1959.
There is a viewing platform at the top of the Tuscan Column, but it is no longer accessible. This is because a cow allegedly tried to climb to the top on more than one occasion. It seems it managed to come back down backwards on the first two occasions, but the third - and last - attempt it actually got to admire the view from the top. It's descent however was fairly quick this time and it did not use the stairs, therefore the awful decision was made to close the entrance. (Cows seem to be afflicted with the desire to climb towers as a similar thing occurred at Boot's Folly in Yorkshire.
The unusual name of Curry Rivel, comes incidentally from the Celtic word "crwy", meaning boundary and "Rivel" from its 12th Century landlord Sir Richard Revel.
Wikipedia says about Burton Pynsent Village:
"Burton Pynsent is a village in Somerset, England, situated six miles west of Somerton and ten miles east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. It is within the civil parish of Curry Rivel.
Burton Pynsent House was built around 1756 for William Pitt, after he inherited the estate from Sir William Pynsent.[1] It formed part of a wing on a larger earlier house, that was demolished around 1805. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[2] The grounds were laid out in the mid 18th century by Lancelot Brown and William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and include early 20th century formal gardens designed by Harold Peto.[3]
The 140 feet (43 m) Pynsent Column (also known as the Curry Rivel Column, Burton Pynsent Monument, Pynsent Steeple or Cider Monument)[4] stands on Troy Hill, a spur of high ground about 700 m north-east of the house. It was designed in the 18th century by Capability Brown for William Pitt.[5][6] It was restored in the 1990s by the John Paul Getty Trust and English Heritage.[4]
The Chatham Vase is a stone sculpture commissioned as a memorial to William Pitt the Elder by his wife, Hester, Countess of Chatham. It was originally erected at their house in Burton Pynsent, in 1781, and moved to the grounds of Chevening House in 1934, where it currently resides.
References
^ "Burton Pynsent, Yeovil, England". Parks & Gardens UK. Parks and Gardens Data Services Limited (PGDS). Retrieved on 2008-09-17.
^ "Burton Pynsent House". Images of England. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-07-05.
^ "Burton Pynsent". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved on 2008-07-05.
^ a b Holt, Jonathan. Somerset Follies. Akeman Press. pp. 76-77. ISBN 9780954613877.
^ "Curry Rivel Column (Burton Pynsent)". Folly Towers. Retrieved on 2008-07-05.
^ "Burton Pynsent Monument". Images of England. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-07-05. "
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq pbeare cbfg.