Sway Tower leaflet

Sway Tower Conservation Area, south of Sway village around the junction of Barrows Lane and Flexford Lane, was designated to protect a nationally important group of early concrete buildings from the late 19th century. These structures were built by Judge Andrew Thomas Turton Peterson after he bought local land in 1868. The area’s key landmark is Peterson’s Grade II* listed tower, 66 metres high and described as the tallest folly in the world, visible for miles. Other notable concrete features include Arnewood Court, a model pig farm, and long stretches of concrete walls, alongside earlier buildings such as the Grade II listed Avon Water House and Hazelhurst. The leaflet outlines how the area changed from a small farming landscape, with development influenced by the arrival of the railway and Peterson’s efforts to provide local employment through construction.