The Warwick Tower at the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK - the first of several erected in the UK. The rising viewing platform is seen almost at the top of the tourist attraction. The tower was opened in April 1897 by London engineer Thomas Warwick. His company was licensed to build and operate the American designed iron towers. The tower had a metal hexagonal latticework frame, up which a base platform rose. The passenger platform rotated on tracks as it was raised by steel cable powered by a steam. The tower operated until 1939 and was demolished 1941.
Looking south down the beach to The Warwick Tower at the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK The rising viewing platform is seen almost at the top of the tourist attraction. Warwicks Revolving Towers Company was the operator of seaside towers in the late Victorian era, with iron observation towers built at resorts such as Great Yarmouth, Morecambe, Douglas and Scarborough. The first of these was erected at Great Yarmouth in April 1897 by London engineer Thomas Warwick. His company was licensed to build and operate the American designed towers by the Revolving Observation Tower Patent Syndicate. The tower had a metal latticework frame, hexagonal in plan, up which a base platform rose, powered by a steam engine and partially balanced by counterweights. The passenger platform rotated on tracks as it was raised by steel cable. The first revolving tower was built at Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. The Great Yarmouth Warwick Tower, sited almost on the beach just north of Britannia Pier, was decked out with flags with a pavilion at its base. The Company was in trouble by late 1900 and wound up in 1902. A Yarmouth consortium took it over in 1902. The Yarmouth Tower's revolving mechanism was found to be faulty after the First World War, so the platform could be raised and lowered but did not revolve. It continued to operate until 1939. With the onset of war, the council did not renew the Tower's lease, and the structure was demolished for scrap in 1941. This old Victorian photograph is from a small original that is slightly soft - the image will not reproduce well at larger sizes.
Size: 2362px × 1747px
Location: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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