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Ozanne Tower |
The National Trust of Guernsey has purchased the Ozanne Tower at Ruette de la Tour, Castel (Perry's Guide Page 8, B4) from the States Water Board at an agreed valuation. The purchase includes a bungalow called Greenhill and some land. The Trust intends to sell the bungalow to offset the cost of the purchase.
Ozanne Tower is an imposing square-shaped grey granite structure. It was built as a folly in the mid 19th century by the Ozanne family whose family home, Les Mourains, is opposite Saumarez Park. The Ozanne family coat-of-arms is clearly visible above the entrance door of the tower. The land on which it stands was once owned by Lord de Saumarez and formed part of an extensive area from Saumarez Park to Home Farm with tracts of land running down to the Cobo coast road.
The tower has magnificent views over the west coast of Guernsey and must have been an attractive recreation area for the Ozanne family in the mid 19th century. The exact year in which the folly was purchased by the de Saumarez family is unknown but was probably towards the end of the 19th century. Lord de Saumarez turned the tower into a museum containing objects he had collected whilst posted abroad, including a brick from the Great Wall of China.
Ownership of the Tower remained with the de Saumarez family until 1938 when the estate was split up and Saumarez Park and outlying land sold to the States of Guernsey. During the German Occupation, the Tower was used as a lookout for an anti aircraft battery located close by. In 1980, the then States Archaeology Officer expressed a view that the base stones of the Tower could be part of a prehistoric tomb. The elevated hill on which the Tower stands would have been an ideal site for Iron Age defence and, in 1982, pottery dating c. 500-400 BC, was found in the vicinity.
The Ozanne Tower has been purchased as a very rare example of a folly well worthy of preservation and is a feature for walkers on the Saumarez Nature Trail to visit. The Trust was concerned as to its fate if left to fall into private hands.
The National Trust intends to launch a fund raising appeal to return the Tower to a Belvedere, its original use under the Ozanne family. Assistance has already been promised by the Long Port Group and its Chairman Charles Billson stated that the Group is pleased to be involved in this restoration initiative. Considerable work will be required but the good news is that the structure itself remains in a reasonable condition notwithstanding evidence of vandalism.