United Kingdom observation tower
Watkin's Tower
You can see 63 km from here, looking south-west.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 63 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 63 kmFarthest ridgelooking south-west
- 100%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 31Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 50 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 31 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are in April and from July to September.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Febwest6 min before the sea-level sunset25%
- Marwest6 min before the sea-level sunset27%
- Aprwest10 min before the sea-level sunset34%
- Maynorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Junnorth-west10 min before the sea-level sunset31%
- Julnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset34%
- Augnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset33%
- Sepwest6 min before the sea-level sunset35%
- Octwest4 min before the sea-level sunset27%
- Novsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Decsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Watkin's Tower.
Partially completed iron lattice tower in London, England
Watkin's Tower is an observation tower in United Kingdom, 50 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 63 km away, looking south-west.
31 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Botley Hill (270 m), 37 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 100% of the circle.
The skies are clearest in April and from July to September.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- Watling Farm Caravan Sitecampsite · 9.0 km · 2 within 10 km
- The Fusilierplace to stay · 2.2 km · 962 within 10 km
- Wembleynearest town · 1.3 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in WembleyBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- London Heathrow Airport (LHR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 16 km in a straight lineCar hire at LHR airport (London)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 10other viewpoints within 5 kmThe Platform, Gotford's Hill, Aussichtspunkt H&MV Office and 7 more
- 3named peaks within 5 kmHorsenden Hill, Park Hill, Harrow Hill
- 7marked trails within 3 kmCapital Ring (Section 09), Capital Ring (Section 10), Brent River Park footpath and 4 more
- 43shelters and huts within 5 kmGazebo and 42 more
- 217car parks within 3 km
- 2visitor centres within 5 kmThe WorkShop, Brent Cross Town Visitor Pavilion
- 162restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 2campsites within 10 kmWatling Farm Caravan Site, Northern Heights
- 962places to stay within 10 kmThe Fusilier, Old Etonian Hotel, Mountrose Hotel and 959 more
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Watkin's Tower, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas17 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas3 lakes within 15 km
Forestyas14 forests and trees within 15 km
Darkskyas7 dark-sky places within 30 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 km
Riveryasthe river nearbyFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Watkin's Tower
United Kingdom
- 62Viewyas Score
- 63 kmFarthest ridge
- 31Peaks in view
- 50 mAltitude
The View from The Shard
United Kingdom · 15 km
- 63Viewyas Score
- 66 kmFarthest ridge
- 31Peaks in view
- 18 mAltitude
London Eye
United Kingdom · 12 km
- 62Viewyas Score
- 60 kmFarthest ridge
- 22Peaks in view
- 2 mAltitude
Queen's Tower
United Kingdom · 10 km
- 60Viewyas Score
- 53 kmFarthest ridge
- 21Peaks in view
- 20 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q1421279) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Forestyas, Darkskyas, Cascadyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Visit