Peters Tower

Built as a memorial to a much-loved wife

The Peters family were successful Liverpool merchants. William Peters, who built this clock tower in 1885 as a memorial to his wife, lived in a sizable classical house nearby.

We repaired the polychrome brick, restored the clock with its daytime chimes, and made the Tower habitable again – it had been a refuge for fishermen stranded here by the weather. Every inch of space inside its tiny rooms is valuable, so our architect, having spent some time at a boatyard, fitted it out with teak and brass and varnish. The views from all the windows are interesting and some spectacular, and you will find yourself surveying and participating in the daily bustle of life on the foreshore. Life here is lived vertically, the views of the estuary getting better as you climb the steep spiral stairs. The Tower is just a few minutes’ walk from the village station.

On the waterfront

The Tower is no great work of architecture, but it is part of the history of Lympstone. It stands at the end of an alley, actually on the water’s edge, in this large and pleasant village, looking across the broad estuary of the Exe to the green fields beyond. Moreover, it is only a short walk from a railway station, so there is no need for those who stay here to have a car.

‘Three pubs, a restaurant, and a station within two minutes’ walk.’

‘The sanctuary of the Tower seemed like a sleek racing yacht turned through 90 degrees and planted by its stem in the beach.’

From the logbook

William was the second son; he went into the army, where he served for a few years with the 7th Dragoons before his father settled on him the 400 acre estate of Harefield, in the parish of Lympstone. Harefield is a late Georgian house, rather plain (today, it is a preparatory school and the wider estate is managed by a family trust). William Peters seems to have had little difficulty in being accepted by the County establishment, taking on the traditional roles of JP and chairman of the local Conservatives. He died in 1896.

The following entry for Tuesday, 2 June, 1885 in The Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette sets the scene after his wife’s death:

Lympstone Memorial Tower

‘The Memorial Tower and Cottages at Lympstone, erected by Mr W.H. Peters, of Harefield, in memory of his widely-revered wife, are rapidly approaching completion, and the work in its entirety will form a most fitting tribute of esteem and regard for the deceased lady, whose 

loss is much felt by all classes of society, especially by the poorer inhabitants of the parish. The memorial is erected on a piece of ground that was for a long number of years occupied by the New Inn, in the lower part of the town, and adjacent to the Railway Station. The cottages are just in the very place where the families which they are intended to accommodate would wish them to be - by the edge of the river, where the fishermen mostly congregate. The memorial buildings comprise a substantial clock-tower, some 70 or 80 feet high, and a commodious block of twelve cottages, suitable for small families. From the former a magnificent view of the estuary of the Exe can be obtained. The memorial cottages are arranged as a series of twelve convenient buildings, and will be let at a mere nominal rent, so that they will be a great boon to the class which they are intended to benefit. The whole work is now well forward, and will be inaugurated at no very distant date. The tower is a landmark for many miles around, and the structure is an object of prominence and much interest. The entire work has been under the superintendence of Mr Sivell, builder, of Lympstone, and reflects credit on him.’

No mention is made of an architect, but it is possible that there was none, the builder drawing up the design himself, perhaps after studying the Campanile in St. Mark's Square in Venice, or obtaining it from a pattern book. The Tower was also intended to serve as a refuge for fishermen caught out in bad weather and unable to return to their homes in other villages along the estuary. A fireplace provided on the first floor allowed them to keep warm. The clock is a typical Victorian gesture to encourage good timekeeping, though for many years, until mechanical failure solved the problem, the striking of the clock at night was a source of complaint from many of its nearest neighbours.

Teak (whose use in those days was less frowned upon) was used throughout, all corners are rounded off and light fittings and knobs are made of brass. The lanterns in the living room and the bathroom are copies of those on HMS Warrior, a 19th-century ironclad battleship, then under restoration in Hartlepool with help from Landmark’s founder, the late Sir John Smith, and the Manifold Trust. (Today, HMS Warrior can be visited in Portsmouth Docks).

Extra fire precautions were inevitably required. The County Fire Prevention Authority agreed that fixed fire escapes would not be practical, and that installing smoke detectors and using special one-hour fire resistant timber for floors and doors would be precaution enough. To save as much space as possible the new staircase was to be a spiral and eventually a firm was found that made a good Victorian replica in cast aluminium - another yacht building material.

The external brickwork of the Tower was in poor condition. Parts of the parapet, out of one corner of which an elder bush was growing, had to be rebuilt completely; in several places bricks had to be replaced. In the most visible places old bricks were re-used, obtained by unblocking windows on the north and south elevations. However, the white bricks of the quoins and parapet facing had worn worse than the red and also needed to be renewed. These had come originally from Newton Abbot, but they are no longer made there. Luckily a new source was discovered in Totnes, and so replacement was possible. The whole of the exterior was cleaned using bristle and soft wire brushes before repointing.

As for the roof, although the rafters were mostly sound, the boarding and the wall plates were rotten. These were replaced and the original slates relaid. The leadwork was also renewed, as were the gable louvres and the access door. The finishing touches to the restoration were of course the repair of the clock and the weather vane. Very little of the latter survived in good condition - most of the scroll work and two of the letters had to be renewed - but what remained was cleaned and repaired. The forge that did the work, Erme Wood Forge, Ivybridge, also made the new fanlight above the front door (itself the old one repaired). The original hand-wound mechanical clock had unfortunately deteriorated beyond the point where it would be possible to get it going again without almost complete rebuilding. The actual clock faces, and the bell, were perfectly all right however; after minor repairs by Smith of Derby they are now fulfilling their proper function but with a new electric motor, complete with restart unit, striking mechanism and - since anticipatory protests were immediately voiced by nearby residents - night-time silencing.