In dangerous state and no funds available

Northam Council made a fateful decision last week concerning the future of Chanter’s Folly, the well-known landmark standing on the high promontory at Appledore. The tower commands wide sweeps of North Devon, the estuary and towards Bideford and on one side it stands at the edge of a sheer quarry face of about 100 feet.

The most likely story of its origin is that Mr Chanter, a Bideford merchant, erected the tower so that an employee living there might signal the arrival of one of his ships in the Bay. The signal could easily be seen from Bideford Quay and steps taken the provide labour at the quayside for the arrival of the vessel.

Gazette article 17 October 1952