The History of the Volta Tower
The Volta Tower was a building in the town of Finedon, England built in 1865 by Mr. William Mackworth-Dolben. He built the tower to commemorate the death of his son, William Digby, a naval officer, who drowned at sea in 1863 while serving on the ship HMS Volta. The tower stood far back with a long driveway in front, along Station Road in Finedon. Not much changed within the surroundings of the Volta Tower apart from the New Cemetery being constructed alongside in 1892. The tower sadly collapsed on 16th November 1951 after standing for 86 years. At the time of its collapse, Mrs. Florence Northen and her husband lived there. Mr. Northen was outside at the time of its collapse and survived but Mrs. Northen was inside and killed by the tower's collapse. It was discovered after its collapse that no mortar had been used at all in its construction, caused the untimely disaster.
Older residents of the town who remember the day of the Volta Tower's collapse describe hearing a loud rumble as it collapsed and describe seeing a huge dust cloud in the air over where the Volta Tower had been standing. Today, the driveway up to where the Volta Tower stood still exists and a farm has been built on top of the Volta Tower's location as well as a bungalow. Nothing of the tower exists today apart from one gargoyle from close to the top of the tower which was auctioned and sold to one of Finedon's residents in recent years. Sadly, it is only the older generation or those who have been told about the Volta Tower who know of its past existence but for many of Finedon's residents, they will have never heard of it. It was one of Finedon's landmarks and does appear on Finedon's town sign alongside the church and the windmill. Incidentally, both are close to where the Volta Tower stood.