The Pepperbox

Built in 1606 by Giles Eyre, the folly is a three-storey hexagonal tower constructed of brick, with its entrances and windows blocked up.

[7] The Pepperbox is a hexagonal, three-storey tower constructed of English bond brick, with a low, pyramidal Welsh slate roof that was rebuilt around 1900, topped by a weather vane.

[8] Gwen Headley suggests that the tower was built in the open countryside at such a location because Eyre believed that the land which the hill overlooks would "last forever," and that this potential impetus has been obscured by the changing of the landscape in the subsequent centuries.

[2] The folly is surrounded by a diverse habitat boasting many uncommon species including juniper, orchids and yew woodland.

[10] In the early 18th century, the Pepperbox was allegedly used as a haunt by highwaymen, who would attack carriages as they reached the summit of the hill, when the horses would be tired by the climb.

[6] It was designated a Grade II listed building as "The Pepperbox" in 1960,[1] and today, both the folly and the hill it stands on are property of the National Trust.

[5] Regarding the Pepperbox, Headley writes that due to the tower being "isolated, unprotected, enigmatic and blank," the sudden sight of the "strange, anonymous small building" provokes questions from unfamiliar passers-by.