to the south west of
Dorking ,
Surrey ,
England , reaches 295
Metre s (968
Feet )
Above Sea Level , the highest point on the
North Downs , and is either the highest or second highest point in south-east England, depending on whether one counts
Walbury Hill near
Newbury, Berkshire , which is 297 metres high, as being in south-east England. One can see woods,
Rhododendron s,
Bluebells and magnificent views from the many walks.
It was on the summit of Leith Hill in
851 , that
Ethelwulf , father of
Alfred The Great , defeated the Danes who were heading for
Winchester , having sacked
Canterbury and
London .
In
1765 or
1766 ,
Richard Hull of nearby
Leith Hill Place (once home to the composer
Ralph Vaughan Williams ) built "Prospect House", later to become known as Leith Hill Tower, with the intention of raising the hill above 1,000 feet. The tower is 20 metres (65 feet) high. The tower consisted of two rooms "neatly furnished", with a
Latin inscription above the door announcing that it had been built for not only his own pleasure, but also for the enjoyment of others. Hull provided visitors with prospect glasses, similar to a small
Telescope , through which to survey the extensive views towards
London and the
English Channel , each some 40
Kilometre s away, and thirteen
Counties on a very clear day.
When he died in
1772 , at his request he was buried under the tower, upside-down as he believed that at
Judgement Day the world would be turned on its head. Following his death, the building was stripped of its contents, doors and windows, and fell into ruin. As a result the tower was filled with rubble and concrete, and the entrance bricked up.
In
1864 , Mr Eveleyn of nearby Wotten Hall decided to reopen it, but the concrete made this difficult, and so the additional turreted side-tower was added to allow access to the top of the tower.
The tower was fully restored by the
National Trust in
1984 , including removal of the rubble and concrete, and is open to the public (weekends throughout the year, and Wednesdays and Fridays in summer), with a display explaining the history of the tower.
