One of the remaining elements of the old Boreham Estate in Boreham Park is this tower, set somewhat apart from the ruins of the old mansion. The door to the tower is firmly padlocked, and entry into the tower is forbidden by order of Horsingdon Council. The windows have been replaced by large single slabs of black stone - whether this was part of the design of the original building, or the consequence of a later renovation, no one seems to know.
However, in 1987 a surveyor friend of mine was employed by Horsingdon Council to check the structural integrity of the building subsequent to the wider damage wrought throughout the borough by the Great Storm of that year - and who was, as far as I am aware, the last person to enter the tower. Whilst the building was, so he told me, otherwise empty and unremarkable - except for the curious character of parts of the internal architecture's arrangement (about which he seemed unable to elaborate) - there were nonetheless a series of strange symbols etched in silver on the inside face of each of the slabs which stood in place of windows.
There were two additional details regarding the matter which my friend also found extremely unusual: firstly, that the council members with whom he dealt seemed extremely agitated at the prospect of structural damage having been done to the building; and secondly, the fact that not only was he accompanied on his visit to the tower by a group of policeman (who loitered somewhat nervously outside the structure the entire time he was there), but also by a priest, who shadowed him closely throughout his examination of the building's interior.
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