A tower is a tall structure, either standing alone or forming part of a larger building, whose height is substantially greater than its width. In architecture towers serve defensive, religious, civic and ornamental purposes, appearing on castles, churches, town halls, country houses and garden buildings.
Medieval towers were built primarily for defence and status, as in castle keeps and fortified tower houses, while church towers housed bells and proclaimed the presence of the parish across the landscape. From the Renaissance onwards, towers were increasingly used for display, and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a fashion for picturesque towers, follies, belvederes and clock towers on country estates and stable blocks. The Gothic Revival brought a wave of towered churches, schools and public buildings across Britain. For the antiques and architectural salvage trade, the tower lends its form to many objects: clock cases, garden ornaments, model buildings, finials and decorative boxes often take a tower shape, and stonework, weather vanes, clock movements and bells salvaged from towers are keenly sought. Tower motifs also appear in heraldry, ceramics and textiles as emblems of strength and civic pride.
