 Up until the 18th century the tower was the church of King's Newnham - St. Laurence's. During the 1730's, however, a zealous rector decided it would be better for all of his parishoners to worship in one church - St. Peter's in Church Lawford. As a result St Laurence's began to fall into disrepair. Then in 1795, while the Lord of the Manor (the Earl of Chichester) and his family were abroad, the baliff, on whose land the church stood, took it upon himself to pull it down. When the Earl returned only the tower was left standing, with the roof removed.
The tower is famous in the area because of the many and varied ghost stories surrounding it.
An incident in the 1850's is partly responsible for this. The owner of the manor farm (now known as King's Newnham Hall) at the time returned from a shooting expedition for lunch with a party of friends. On their way past the tower, they noticed that the ground around the tower was ankle deep in water, from recent heavy rain. Yet when they had finished their meal, a couple of hours later, the water had completely drained away. Under the tower they discovered a water filled vault.
In 1852, while the site was being cleared under the instructions of Lord John Scott, leaden coffins were found in the former church yard. They contained the bodies of Francis Earl of Chester (1653), his wife Audrey, the Countess of Chichester (1652), their daughter Lady Audrey Leigh (1640) and Sir John Anderson, son of Lady Chichester by her first husband. One of the coffins, however, contained the body of an unknown man who had been beheaded. The man was bearded, and had the letters TB on his shirt, across his chest. The coffins were then resealed and replaced under the tower.
The tower is now a Grade II listed building.
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