And this year’s winner in the Privately Owned Listed Building category goes to the Tower House, Lubenham.
You don’t get the full effect from a still photograph, but the pink light shoots upwards like mercury in a thermometer, then ends with a starburst effect at the top.
The Tower House was originally an 18th century farmhouse. The tower was added by racing enthusiast Jack “Cherry” Angell to commemorate his horse “Alcibade” winning the Grand National in 1865. Alcibade is buried in a mound nearby (though, not, I think, in the adjacent churchyard).
A later owner, the Rev. Graham Dilley (no relation, as far as I know) used it as his vicarage. The ballroom is said to contain a section of the ceiling from Lamport Hall, which the Rev. Dilley – also a sporting man – had won in a bet. How very different to the home life of our own dear clergy.
Some local residents have commented that “it’s just like the Blackpool Illuminations”. Well, it’s not that good, obviously, but still a very commendable effort.
The Crimson Rambler 