Severndroog Castle

Severndroog Castle is a folly designed by architect Richard Jupp, with the first stone laid on 2 April 1784.

It was built to commemorate Commodore Sir William James who, in April 1755, attacked and destroyed the island fortress of Suvarnadurg (then rendered in English: Severndroog) of the Maratha Empire on the western coast of India, between Mumbai and Goa.

Designated a Grade II* listed building in 1954,[2][3] the Gothic-style castle is 63 feet (19 m) high and triangular in section, with a hexagonal turret at each corner.

[4] Following Lady James' death in 1798, the building passed through the hands of various landowners, including John Blades, a former Sheriff of London, a Mr Barlow (ship owner) who built nearby Castle Wood House, and Thomas Jackson (a railway and docks contractor of Eltham Park).

[5] In 1922, the tower was purchased by London County Council and it became a local visitor attraction with a ground-floor tearoom serving refreshments.