3-085-874 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

English Homes No. XLIII: Alton Towers, 1898. 'View from the grounds. Although the present Towers of Alton are completely modern - they were built within the present century - the Manor of Alton or Alveton is a very ancient one. It is clearly to be traced as far back as Doomsday Book and William the Conqueror, and has a traditional ownership extending even further into antiquity. Alton Towers is the crowning feature of a high hill in a romantic corner of Staffordshire...The conservatory looks down into Lady Shrewsbury's private garden, in an inner court: a delightful little retreat laid out in the Dutch style, and further adorned with a Chinese pagoda'. Edward Rose. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.