Walks-Racton Ruin-West Sussex.
The Racton Ruin or Racton Monument is down a long country road. Turn right onto another country road. Come to a cross roads. Do a U turn and park up by a very nice church. Once there you can just see the top of it sitting on a hill. I was a bit dubious at first as you wonder if you can go up the track to see it. Are you allowed? Does it lead to somebody’s house? Never mind just walk until you feel that you probably shouldn’t be.
It is quite a steep hill in parts and you do get a sweat on even in October. I didn’t know what to expect to be honest other than I had read there used to be all night raves and Occult activity. Interesting.
Here is the Wikipedia entry for it;
‘Racton Monument (known locally as Racton Ruin) is a folly situated on a hill in Racton, West Sussex, England with spectacular views over Chichester Harbour and to the Isle of Wight. It was commissioned by the 2nd Earl of Halifax, possibly as a summerhouse for the nearby Stansted Estate, though an alternative theory suggests it could have been constructed so the Earl could watch his merchant ships dock at the nearby port village of Emsworth. Another theory is that the Earl built it as a viewing tower to watch for his son's return from an ill-fated voyage.
It was designed by architect Theodosius Keene, son of Henry Keene, and constructed between 1766 and 1775. It was designed with a triangular base, with a round turret at each angle. Of a red brick construction, the building was originally faced with flints and stood four storeys high, a height it retains to this day. However, it has been abandoned for over a century and is in a state of ruin, with the floors and much of the original flint facing having disappeared, and its roof caving in.
It is owned by a private owner (Mark Talbot RIBA) who had planning permission to turn the monument into a dwelling, though these plans are yet to materialise. Its isolated nature, being set away from populated places and major roads, has led to several cases of suicide at the monument, most recently in 2009. Occult acts are known to take place on occasion there. The monument is also popular with paranormal investigators visiting to investigate reported paranormal activity at the site. Witnesses claim to have seen bricks thrown from above, heard ghostly shouts, and intrigue surrounds the myth that the folly may have been used by smugglers.’
