A public appeal has been launched to raise £10,000 this year to support the Bath Preservation Trust’s project at Beckford’s Tower.
Beckford’s Tower on Lansdown in Bath | Photo © ColinPeachey / Shutterstock.com
The special project, Our Tower: Reconnecting Beckford’s Tower and Landscape for all, aims to widen access to William Beckford’s life story by reconnecting the landmark and lost landscape he created to a wider contemporary audience.
Since 1827, Beckford’s tower has been a feature high above the city. It was intended to house his library, art collection and be a retreat from the hubbub of Bath.
To access it, Beckford reputedly bought a mile of land between his home in Lansdown Crescent and the tower itself and created a series of interlinked gardens, plantations and rustic seats, with views over the Avon Valley, culminating at the tower. This became known as Beckford’s Ride.
In the two centuries since his death in 1844, the original walls of the tower garden fell into disrepair, the paddocks became overgrown and other parts of the ride passed into different ownership. Beckford’s Tower was added to the National ‘At Risk’ Register in October 2019.
Development grants awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Historic England are enabling Bath Preservation Trust to repair and conserve the tower, and to re-examine the way in which they share the story of William Beckford’s links to the transatlantic slave trade.
Alex Sherman, CEO of Bath Preservation Trust said: “Public support is a crucial element, and donations help to demonstrate the appeal of the project to local residents, visitors to the museum and others which will benefit – so please support us, donations of any size are all very gratefully received.”
You can donate to Our Tower: Reconnecting Beckford’s Tower and Landscape for all in a variety of ways. More information can be found here.
Beckford’s Tower and Museum will once again welcome visitors from 5th March 2022, having been closed for two years due to the pandemic.
It will be open at weekends from March through until October.
During this time, an exhibition will showcase potential new stories that may form part of a new museum at the tower, due to open in 2024 subject to successful fundraising.
Claire Dixon, Director of Museums for BPT said: “This year will provide us with an important opportunity to invite visitors back to the museum and tell us what they think about our plans.
“We want to know if they are interested in the stories we plan to tell and get as much feedback as possible before we commit to our final interpretation strategy.”
