The Albert Tower commemorates an unplanned royal visit: in 1847 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, cruising the Irish Sea aboard the royal yacht, anchored in Ramsey Bay, and Prince Albert came ashore to walk up the hill above the town to admire the view, causing a scramble among local officials to receive him. The hill was renamed Albert Mount in his honour, and the tower's foundation stone was laid on Easter Monday 1848 by Mrs Eden, wife of the then Bishop of Sodor and Man. Paid for by public subscription and designed by engineer C.W. Buck, the 45-foot slate-and-granite tower stands on Lhergy Frissel in the parish of Maughold, just over the Ramsey boundary, overlooking the town. It served as a lookout post during the Second World War and has been closed to the public since.