Severndroog Castle Laser Scan

Laser scan / point cloud

Severndroog Castle – “Lady James’s Folly” – is an eighteenth century tower located in Oxleas woods in Southeast London.  It was built as a memorial to Commodore Sir William James, a former chairman of the East India Company by his wife Lady Anne James in 1784. Designed by architect Richard Jupp and based on Shrubs Hill Tower in Windsor, the triangular tower is 19 meters high with three storeys and a viewing platform. It stands within ancient deciduous woodland at the top of Shooter’s Hill – one of the highest natural points in London.

An inscription on the stone tablet above the entrance reads:

This building was erected MDCCLXXXIV by the representative of the late Sir William James, Bart. To Commemorate that Gallant Officer’s Atchievements (sic) in the East Indies during his command of the Company’s Marine Forces in those seas. And in a particular manner to record the Conquest off the Coast of Malabar which fell to his superior Valour and able Conduct on the 2nd day of April MDCCLV.

Survey Details
  • Laser Scan
  • Leica BLK360 / 13 scans / Medium scan density setting
  • Early morning / May / Sunny weather / significant tree coverage
  • All scans from ground level, external
  • Registration: Recap iPad app / Recap Pro 2021 desktop application
  • Post processing: CloudCompare / 3D Studio Max 2020
CloudCompare

Export from Recap Pro as .PTS file

Clone instances of these imports and apply different subsampling settings to vary density of castle vs trees. Blend the results

3D Studio
Real World Point Size: 0.05 | Quality 2

3DS / V-Ray to render of point cloud – vary settings of Real World Point Size and Level of Detail

Real World Point Size: 0.01 / 0.02 / 0.05 | Quality 10
Orthographic – blended point sizes
Zephyr Aerial

Generate Orthophoto from dense point cloud

Sketchfab
Further Reading / Sources

Official Severndroog Castle Site

Ian Visits: Climb to the top of Severndroog Castle

The Folly Flâneuse

Historic England

London Gardens Trust

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