Folly of Love

Today (sunny and warm) I took the bus to Severndroog Castle, hidden within several woods in Eltham, a dog walkers paradise.  The view from the top (up 86 stairs!!) was far reaching - from Crystal Palace to the Olympic Park.  It was built to commemorate Commodore Sir William James who, in April 1755, attacked and destroyed the island fortress of Suvarnadurg (then rendered in English: Severndroog) of the Maratha Empire on the western coast of India, between Mumbai and Goa. James died in 1783 and the castle was built as a memorial to him by his widow, Lady James of Eltham.  In 1783, the Royal Society and the Paris Observatory agreed to work together, in the name of science, to measure and map distances between London and Paris and the Castle was one of the survey points for this project.  It was also used as a lookout in both World Wars and in World War II, Shooters Hill formed part of one of the key lines of defence around London known as ‘stop lines’. The Castle played an important part in the defence of the capital. Two special constables manned the roof, day and night, to look out for air raids. They were in direct contact with the government by telephone.  All this in a tiny pocket of Kent.