Description:A view of the gardens at Alton Towers, with the Memorial to the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury on the right. The Memorial was erected in about 1830 by his nephew John, the 16th Earl. It is a copy of the Choragic Monument or Monument to Lysacrates in Athens and is made of cast iron. It contains a marble bust of the 15th Earl by Peter Hollins of Birmingham, with the inscription 'he made the desert smile'. The gardens were created by the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury between about 1810 and 1827.
The gardens at Alton Towers re-opened to the public after World War II in 1952. During the 1960s, under the management of Denis and Anthony Bagshaw, Alton Towers became an increasingly popular visitor attraction. In 1973 John Broome married Denis Bagshaw's daughter and soon after became the majority shareholder. In 1980 he began introducing the rides for which Alton Towers is now famous.