The tower is one of Birmingham's oldest surviving architectural features. Built in the open Rotton Park by John Perrott, who lived in Belbroughton, the tower now stands high above the local residential and business housing.
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From 1884 to 1979 the tower was used as a weather recording station for the Birmingham and Midland Institute. In 1966 the Geography Department of the University of Birmingham took over the running of the observatory until operations were transferred to the main campus.
It has been suggested, but not proven, that the towers of Perrott's Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks may have influenced references to towers in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, who lived nearby as a child.