High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Wainhouse Tower is a folly in the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire in England. At 275 feet (84 m), it is the tallest structure in Calderdale and the tallest folly in the world, and was erected in just 4 years between 1871-1875. The main shaft is octagonal in shape with a square base and 403 stairs leading up to the first of 2 viewing platforms.The tower was first designed by architect Isaac Booth and was originally designed as a chimney to serve the local dye works which were owned by John Edward Wainhouse (1817-1883). The necessity of the chimney in the first place was to satisfy the Smoke Abatement Act of 1870 which required the building of a tall chimney, to carry smoke out of the valleys in which the factories were built. A much simpler chimney would have satisifed the requirements of the law but Wainhouse insisted that it should be an object of beauty.