Jezreel's tower

Jezreel, by now a heavy drinker, fell ill towards the end of 1884 and died on 2 March 1885. Nobody mourned his death, for the word was without meaning in the sect, who expected his speedy resurrection. Much of the tower's foundations were in place by early 1886 and some of the peripheral buildings were occupied. As building costs soared, Clarissa made economies in the budget for keeping followers. She found the cost of feeding Jezreelites was particularly high and declared the sect would become vegetarian, living off a diet of bread and potatoes. "Queen Esther" (the derogatory name by which she was called in the press), however, was often to be seen in the area riding in a coach and pair…

White completed his military service in 1881 and set about building a headquarters for his church. The site—at the top of Chatham Hill and the highest point in the area—was chosen, Jezreel said, after a revelation from God. He envisaged a building based on Revelation xxi, 16: "And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth ... the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal." It was intended to be a sanctuary, assembly hall and headquarters of the New and Latter House of Israel, as the church was now called. Around the perimeter there would be shops plus accommodation for Israel's International College—a school he had already set up at his home…