The “Our Tower” project
In 2019 Beckford’s Tower was awarded a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to embark on a major project to conserve the building, adapt it for sustainable energy use, and better tell the complex story of Beckford’s life, relationships and complicity in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people.
The “Our Tower’ project has been undertaken in consultation with our Community Advisory Panel, our local communities, organisations, residents and academic advisors to encourage multiple voices to be heard. This is an on-going process. The Museum has been designed to enable displays to change easily as new information and understandings emerge. There is still a lot to be discovered and many other voices and perspectives that have not yet been heard.
If you would like to share your thoughts or get involved, email us.
If you would like to find out more about the Community Advisory Panel email us.
Beckford’s Grotto
For the first time in over 100 years, William Beckford’s hidden Grotto tunnel is publicly visible again after we excavated it as part of the “Our Tower” project.
The Grotto is a long-lost underground tunnel that William Beckford once used when travelling to and from the Tower. A team of archaeologists and building experts uncovered the original steps and retaining walls, along with various historic objects including clay pipes smoked by the stonemasons who first built the Grotto in the 1820s. The excavation revealed that the Grotto was double the expected size.
Visitors to the Tower can walk down to the Grotto via the newly restored pathway, and enter into this special space.
The team at Wessex Archaeology created this 3D photogrammetric model of the Grotto tunnel.
Take a digital tour
Our digital access-all-areas tour makes the Tower accessible for all; now everybody can see inside the Museum and “ascend” the Tower without climbing the staircase, to enjoy the panoramic view of Bath.
The accessible digital tour is available via a handheld device at the Tower. If, for access reasons, you are unable to visit the Tower, we can send you a link to an online version – please contact [email protected] to request this.
Plan your visit to Beckford’s Tower and Museum
Opening times, how to get here, accessibility, and everything else you might need to know about visiting Beckford’s Tower and Museum.
Please be aware that the Museum and landscape explores subjects of abuse, enslavement and exploitation
History
Discover how Beckford used the profits of slavery to build the Tower as an escape from the world
Become a member
Love this city? Have your say in its future with a Bath Preservation Trust membership, which includes free entry to our four museums.