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Ransom Riggs
Lean on me
by Ransom Riggs - November 26, 2007 - 10:20 AM

Think the Leaning Tower of Pisa is impressive? It’s not the only leaning building out there, and according to the venerable Guinness Book, it’s not even the leaning-est.

The Leaning Pub of Himley
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Dubbed “the Leaning Tower of Pilsner” by regulars, this British pub was built on unstable coal mining land. “Severe subsidence over time caused a 15 degree shift from the left wall to the right. Faced with the choice of repairing the damage or abandoning the structure, the owners took a different tack – buttresses now hold the building in place, and it remains at a permanent slant.” (Via metafilter and Sharpo’s world.)

Leaning church of Suurhusen, Germany
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The Guinness Book recently judged the tower of this crooked house of worship to be the leaning-est in the world, knocking Pisa’s famous tower from its long-held (if precarious) perch. The church was built in middle of the 13th century but a 90 foot tower was added in 1450 — but the latter was built on wooden foundations that have rotted away over the years, causing the structure to lean a startling 5.19 degrees (compared to Pisa’s 3.97).

King’s School Shop, Canterbury
shop.jpgFlickr user Diversey Harbor shot this photo of a crooked shop in Canterbury, England dating from 1647 — plenty of time for any structural irregularities to show their true colors. Though the doorway was built to accentuate the crookedness of the building, the building is by no means perfect: locals suspect an improperly-installed chimney stack, added to the building years after it was first constructed, is to blame for the structural weakness. Apparently shored up now, it’s a lot safer than it looks.

Comments (1)
  1. Great article! One of my favourite (partial) leaning structures (by no means on it’s way into Guinness’) is the leaning south-east tower of Caerphilly Castle in Wales.

    http://www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html

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