Severndroog Castle

Severndroog Castle stands on Shooter’s Hill in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Designed by Richard Jupp, it was begun in 1784 as a Gothic-style folly with three hexagonal turrets and a triangular plan. The building commemorates Commodore Sir William James, who in 1755 captured the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on India’s western coast. Lady James, his widow, paid for its construction after his death in 1783. The tower rises 19 m and once served as a survey point for General William Roy’s trigonometric link between Greenwich Observatory and Paris. The castle has played a part in major mapping projects. Roy installed a large theodolite on its roof for the 1784–1790 Anglo-French Survey that led to the Ordnance Survey. Later, the Royal Engineers used it for their 1848 survey of London. After passing through several owners, it became a public attraction in the 1920s with a tearoom on the ground floor. In 1986 responsibility moved to Greenwich Council, which closed the building in 1988. Restoration began in 2013 after a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £595,000. The Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust led the campaign, aided by a BBC Restoration series appearance. The castle reopened in 2014 and now sits beside the Green Chain Walk and Capital Ring paths. Visitors reach it through Castle Wood, where views extend across London and seven counties on clear days.