Wainhouse Tower 150th Anniversary: The Sesquicentennial Story of Wainhouse Tower
Top Banner photo by Alastair Wallace
“The what story of Wainhouse Tower!?” we hear you cry.
“Sesquicentennial” is derived from Latin, meaning “one hundred and fiftieth” and September 9th 2025 marks 150 years since the tallest folly in the world was completed. And thereby hangs a tale. A tale of compliance with the laws of the day, a bitter feud between two men, an opportunity squandered and another seized – all of which brings us to today and a Grade II* listed much-loved local landmark, which you can visit and ascend to enjoy the spectacular views. Just watch out for the Dragons at the top. Oh and maybe a certain “madman in a blue box” (watch out for more Wainhouse Tower 150 blog posts later this week, which will explain.) Put the kettle on, grab a biscuit or some parkin, and make yourself comfortable to read this: the story of Wainhouse Tower.
Once upon a time, there was a man named John Edward Wainhouse. In 1856, age 39, John inherited his Uncle Robert’s dyeworks located on Washer Lane, Halifax, along with various other properties and land.
The Washer Lane Dyeworks were typical of the day, and caused considerable pollution to the atmosphere through smoke emission. Halifax was a prosperous, rapidly expanding industrial town, largely dependent on coal, which was in plentiful supply. Smog could blanket Halifax for weeks on end, reducing sunlight to an occasional glow, increasing rainfall and contaminating the landscape with soot and sulphur trioxide.
Industrial regions of Britain were so affected that the Government took action in the form of a Smoke Nuisance Abatement Act. What is today known as Wainhouse Tower was originally conceived and designed as a chimney to serve Washer Lane Dyeworks and to comply with the Act. The idea was for the chimney to be located some 350 metres or so up the hillside from the dyeworks, linked by an underground flue or tunnel leading to the chimney – quite a common practise at that time.
It’s thought that John Edward Wainhouse asked his architect, Mr. Isaac Booth, to design and build a mill chimney that would be aesthetically pleasing. Isaac Booth designed a conventional circular mill chimney with a brick flue, which terminated with a swept capping to a normal flue outlet. The chimney was surrounded by a square-based, octagonal-shaped stone casing, with a spiral staircase between the two. The stairs led to four pedimented balcony features.
No one seems to know exactly why there had to be a staircase, but it is probable that the feature was to meet the whims of the somewhat eccentric John Edward Wainhouse, rather than for any practical purpose. Who could have stood on the balcony with smoke pouring from the chimney’s flue? However this design feature did later serve to highlight a deepening feud between Wainhouse and a neighbour, Sir Henry Edwards.
Sir Henry Edwards was a wealthy landowner and local magistrate. A staunch Conservative who became the first Tory MP for Halifax in 1847 and High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1871, Sir Henry was also an extrovert and boastful man, who claimed that from no house on the hills around Pye Nest could a view be obtained of his private grounds. It is known that Sir Henry made complaints about the smoke nuisance from the Washer Lane Dyeworks. Wainhouse’s architect, Mr. Isaac Booth, was also Sir Henry’s architect. Whatever first ignited their rivalry, disagreements between Wainhouse and Sir Henry rapidly developed into a feud. This feud is one of the reasons that Wainhouse Tower is also locally known as ‘The Tower of Spite.’ You can read all about the feud between the two men on our ‘Tower of Spite’ blog , which will be published on Tuesday 9th September.
Whether or not Wainhouse actually personally managed the dyeworks is not certain, but by 1870 they were leased by him to Henry Mossman. Construction of the chimney began in 1871. At some point during the chimney’s construction, Wainhouse said he would alter the state of affairs of no view of Sir Henry’s private grounds being possible, by providing an observatory at the top of his mill chimney.
The opportunity arose to construct the present observatory when in 1873 Isaac Booth decided that, because of the feud, he could no longer work for Wainhouse and Sir Henry. He chose the latter, and this led to the appointment by Wainhouse of Richard Swarbrick Dugdale (who later became the Borough engineer for Huddersfield). Dugdale re-designed the upper section of the Tower, incorporating a lower corbelled and balustraded balcony, surmounted by a sixteen-columned peristyle. This in turn supported an upper balustraded balcony surmounted by a lantern dome and finial.
It is estimated that over 9,000 tons of materials were used in the chimney’s construction. Wainhouse himself supervised construction works, which were carried out by day work rather than by contract. Stone was hauled up the inside of the chimney by means of a tripod positioned on a platform on the structure itself. A rope from the tripod was harnessed, via a winch on the ground, to a horse. Abraham Buckley, son of the site foreman Isaac Buckley, lost an arm when the tripod collapsed and caused a large stone to fall on him.
By 1874 Wainhouse had sold the Washer Lane Dyeworks to the works manager Henry Mossman. The sale did not include the chimney, for it is thought that Mossman considered the unfinished structure to be a definite liability. This decision is rather baffling, given the need for the dyeworks to comply with the Smoke Abatement Act and Mossman was later prosecuted under the Act. Sir Henry Edwards (who Wainhouse suspected of initiating the prosecution) was on the Bench of Magistrates, but retired from the Chair on the final hearing. Mossman had to install fans into the furnaces, pull down six existing small chimneys and erect a larger chimney in their place to prove efforts were being made at the dyeworks to abate the smoke nuisance.
By 1874 it was therefore clear that the Wainhouse’s chimney would never be used as such. However construction continued and the building was completed on 9th September 1875. The total cost is thought to have been in the region of £15,000 (over £2,211,000 in 2025). The finished structure is a masterpiece of the stonemason’s craft. Each stone was quarried and dressed locally and cut to fit like a jigsaw. Although cement mortar was used, it is likely that many of the stones were dowelled together with copper pins. There are over 400 steps – 369 to the observatory that can be visited today and 403 in total to the upper balcony which is not accessible to the public. The total height of the Tower is approximately 77 metres (253 feet) measured form the ground level on the east side.
Wainhouse’s chimney was now his Tower, complete with two observatories and stone window seats in the staircase, provided to rest weary legs on the way up or down. Perhaps Wainhouse entertained guests atop his tower, or maybe he enjoyed the view himself – one can imagine occasional rude gestures being made in the direction of Sir Henry’s private grounds.
John Edward Wainhouse died on 26th July 1883, at his home, at the age of 66 years. He was buried in a family grave at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Halifax. The Tower, together with three acres of surrounding land (comprising three parcels of land namely Rough Bank, Plantation and Upper Longfield) was offered for sale by Wainhouse’s executors.
The sale took place at Messrs. Davis and Shoesmith’s Sale Rooms, Halifax on 19th-20th October 1886 and the property was subsequently conveyed for the sum of £535 on 1st January 1887 to Charles Barrett (a tailor) and W.H.D Horsfall (an architect and surveyor). In the Conveyance the structure was referred to as an “Observatory.”
Sir Henry Edwards contracted Bright’s disease around 1884 and was confined to bed at his private grounds at Pye Nest. He died following an attack of hemiplegia paralysis on Good Friday, 23rd April 1886. There is a memorial window for Sir Henry in Halifax Minster, placed there by members of the Freemasons’ Lodge of Probity Number 61.
On 16th July 1892, Barret conveyed his share of the property to Horsfall, who two days later transferred the estate, for the purposes of obtaining a mortgage (£697 15s 0d) to Godfrey Rhodes and Richard Watson Evans, who were in partnership as solicitors in Halifax.
In 1893 there was talk about pulling Wainhouse Tower down and a statement appeared in the local press to that effect!
A change of ownership occurred again on 27th December 1894 when the estate was conveyed to George Aked Blackburn (a grocer) for the sum of £850.
The ground surrounding the Tower was, at the turn of the 20th century, used for hen-keeping, and the chimney entrance was used as a hen-cote.
In 1909 Mr. P. Denison rented a hut on the land and was permitted to erect a wireless station, using Wainhouse Tower to support the aerial for transmission and reception. The wireless station, which had a range of about 800 miles, closed down after four years of operation, but the Tower was again used for supporting aerials associated with a later experimental radio station.
George Aked Blackburn offered Wainhouse Tower for sale by auction on 9th October 1912. The auction, by Messrs. Garside and waring, extolled the virtues of the structure by suggesting that the surrounding land could be used for burial purposes, or the Tower as a crematorium! The auction took place at the Boar’s Head Hotel on Southgate, but there were no takers.
George Aked Blackburn died on 25th July 1917 and his executors tried without success to sell Wainhouse Tower in 1918. A public subscription took place through the offices of the ‘Halifax Courier’ and on 30th May 1919 the estate was conveyed to the Halifax Corporation for the sum of £450. In May 1932 the Halifax Corporation sold a small triangular area of the original “Upper Longfield” to the King Cross Wesleyan Church for the sum of £100.
During the second World War the Tower was used by the Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P) as an observation post. In 1963 a nuclear disarmament sign was daubed in paint partway up the Tower on its north face. It was considered too difficult to remove and was painted over with dark paint.
Upon the re-organisation of Local Government on 1st April 1974, the ownership of Wainhouse Tower was transferred to Calderdale Council where it remains to the present day. Prior to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, Wainhouse Tower was open to the public on bank holidays and Father’s Day.
From the summer of 2008 Wainhouse Tower was closed to the public for nearly two years, to allow for extensive re-pointing and repair works to halt the deterioration of the building’s fabric. Powered hoists, a bosun’s chair and complex scaffolding around the top section of the Tower provided access for the repair work, which included:
- Full re-pointing of the whole of the tower using a lime-based mortar to protect the stonework and allow it to breathe.
- Dismantling and rebuilding of the top corona to allow removal of corroding ironwork. New stainless steel dowels and staples were used in the rebuilding process to prevent future deterioration.
- Replacement lead roof/floor at corona level.
- Improved access to the corona to service the lightning conductor and new lights.
- New carved stone sections at various locations throughout the tower. The stone for these was sourced and carved by a local stone mason.
- Stitching and dowelling of sound but cracked stone to prevent further deterioration.
- A new concrete cap and associated support structure to the flue in the middle of the tower.
- New stainless steel straps to replace corroded iron staples within the upper section of the staircase.
- New LEDs (light-emitting diodes) positioned at the corona level. This level had never been lit before and it was decided that lamps in this position would allow the public to see this section in more detail at night. Blue was chosen as complementary to the orange and green lamps already in position.
Beginning late 2023 the Tower has been open to the public more than ever before, regularly opening twice a month, plus most bank holidays, from March to October and on special occasions such as national Heritage Open Days.
At the time of writing (July 2025) Wainhouse Tower is open from March to October on the first Friday and third Saturday of each month, plus bank holidays. You can find out when the next open day is due to take place on the Tower’s page on VisitCalderdale.com here. Tickets need to be booked in advance through the VisitCalderdale Eventbrite page.
So there you have it -the story of Wainhouse Tower, so far. You can add to its story and create your own by visiting the Tower on one of its open days.
For any enquiries about Wainhouse Tower (NB please note that are unable to action any request for the Tower to be lit in particular colours) please email Wainhouse.Tower@calderdale.gov.uk
Read our other Wainhouse Tower 150th Anniversary blog posts here:
#WainhouseTower150 #VisitCalderdale
Sources:
Wainhouse a Remarkable Tower (Centenary Edition), John B. Dunn, Chief Amenities and Recreation Officer, Calderdale Council
Wainhouse Tower Guide, Calderdale Council Leisure Services
Malcolm Bull’s Calderdale Companion
