The History of Alton Towers
It doesn't take a genius to guess that Alton Tower's, hasn't always been a theme park and is a place of much history. To keep things simple though, we're going to begin near the start of the actual 'Towers' life.
Alton Towers is located on an area of land called Bunbury Hill, and to begin with was known as Alton Lodge. It was used as an occasional residence for the Earls of Shrewsbury, who by the 18th Century has established their residence at Heythrop in Oxfordshire.
Compared to the building you see today, Alton Lodge wasn't to spectacular, although it was still a nice bit of real estate. As you look at the Towers after entering the park, Alton Lodge would have been the central part minus the grand dining room and some other bits that were altered at later dates.
Things really started to take off in 1811 when major work was started and the building had its name changed from Alton Lodge to Alton Abbey. Construction took around 10 years to complete and included the Flag Tower, (right hand tower as you look from the park entrance), extensions to the main building including a new entrance, and windows were changed from being square to gothic arched style. The entrance at this time was in the location of the great dining room (in the middle as you look from the park entrance).
On the other side of the lake to the towers, in what is now known as Merry England, there is a building that looks quite large and castle looking, but is also in an odd location to the towers. To close to have belonged to other people, but to far to be a part of the Towers. It is in-fact a screen that was built to hide the farm buildings behind, which were moved away from the main building at this time.
In 1826 construction of the Pagoda started, designed by Robert Abraham it was meant to be 6 stories high with 40 Chinese gas lamps suspended from the angles of the roof. However after 7 years of construction in resulted in being just 3 stories with no lamps, although it is still a magnificent site.
1827 saw the dead of Charles who was responsible for the conversion of Alton Lodge to Alton Abbey, however his nephew John shared his vision and continued the work. A monument was put up close to the house, with the words 'He made the desert smile'. It was a replica of the monument to Lysicrates built in Athens in 344 B.C.
While the house belonged to "Good Earl John" as well as all his uncle's construction plans being carried out, he changed the name from Alton Abbey to Alton Towers and doubled the size of the buildings. This is partially because unlike his uncle he had children so they had to be catered for, he was a collector of art which had to be stored and displayed, and in 1937 the Shrewsbury's main residence at Heythrop tragically burned down so all remaining possessions had to be moved to Alton Towers.
Good Earl John, with his architect Pugin built the chapel, the great dining hall, gallery range, cellars and much more transforming it into the building you see today. This is also when the entrance moved from the North face of the house where the great dining hall is, to the east face through the linked galleries.
In 1842 extensive fortifications were made to the towers including the large ditch you see along the front and a barbican in the corner of the east screen wall to protect the new main entrance.
In 1952 Good Earl John died and following a large legal battle the Towers fell into the hands of Henry Chetwynd Talbot. In 1960 the house was opened up to the public in order to raise money to carry out repair work. In was in the 1890s though that the Towers were properly developed into a tourist attraction by the 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Henry Talbot, who organised balloon festivals, fireworks and exhibitions.
Then in 1924 the building was sold to a group of businessmen who auctioned off the contents but kept it open to the public. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the army requisitioned the estate for training purposes and the building started to degrade. The building was returned in 1951 but instead of being restored the whole interior was sold off. However in the 1970's, new owners began restoration work on the building again.
In 1980 things all started to change for the towers as it was converted into the theme park you see today. John Broome wanted to change the place into a leisure park and in that year the Corkscrew opened, which was the UK's first double corkscrew coaster, an instant hit with the UK's public.
In 1990 the Tussauds Group, who at the time were owned by Pearsons who also owed Cedar Point in Ohio, bought the park. Following this in 1993 Nemesis was constructed which still remains one of the worlds top 10 coasters despite over a decade of time passing.
In 1998 Tussauds was sold to Charted House and then in 2005 it was sold again to Dubai International Capital.
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