Waterloo Tower
Local History
When taking the back road to Newport, passing through the Scotscraig estate, one passes a hill on the right called “Tower Hill”. On its summit, at a height of 400 feet above the level of the Tay, is a curious round tower called “Waterloo Tower”.
It was originally a watch tower, and was a very ancient structure, but it had been allowed to go to ruins. In the year 1815 the owner of Scotscraig, Mr Dalgleish, restored the tower, and dedicated it as a memorial of the battle of Waterloo.
It stands on the very summit of the hill, surrounded by trees on all sides (the trees used to be kept clear on the east side so that the tower could serve as a landmark to mariners, for which purpose it was painted black to enable it to be more easily visible from a distance against the clear sky).
There used to be a substantial wooden staircase inside which lead to the summit of the tower, which was 60 or 70 feet high, and from a bartizan on the top one of the most magnificent and extensive views could be obtained both by land and sea.
The Duke of Edinburgh paid a visit to Scotscraig on June 30th, 1863, and the event was marked on a tablet over the door of “Waterloo Tower”.
Today, in May 2003, the tower still stands but as a fragile ruin. It appears that the structure was fenced-off, and that some time later the north side of the tower collapsed (as some of the rubble crushed part of the fence). Still, the tower stands tall and is as impressive as the surrounding landscape.
source:
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History of Newport, J. S. Neish, 1890.
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