Our Tower: Reconnecting Beckford’s Tower and Landscape for all aims to connect people with the buildings and landscape created by the bisexual writer, slave owner and collector William Beckford (1760-1840).
The Tower Project
In 1826 William Beckford commissioned an extraordinary Tower, he created a garden between his Lansdown Crescent home and the retreat now known as Beckford’s Tower, where he could escape from the city within the natural environment. Many buildings designed within this landscape are now lost or have become detached from each other, yet Beckford’s Tower (Grade I) still stands above the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bath. It is the only museum dedicated to William Beckford in the world.
Beckford’s Tower was added to the National ‘At Risk’ Register in October 2019 and we were delighted to receive confirmation of development funding of up to £422,600 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund a few weeks later.
Public Fundraising Appeal Launched 3 Feb 2022!
We set a target to raise £10,000 from public donations this year, which we reached during May. Now we want to see how much more we can raise!
Public support is a crucial element of our project and your donations help to demonstrate the appeal of our project to local residents, visitors to the museum and others that will benefit.
Donations of any size are gratefully received and here are the ways that you can give:
- To donate by TEXT send this message: OURTOWER to 70085 to donate £10 (Texts cost £10 plus one standard rate message)
- Donate by BACS to the following account: Sort code; 40-52-40 Account Number; 00024926 Account Name; The Beckford Tower Trust
- Send a cheque payable to the Beckford Tower Trust to The Our Tower Project, c/o 1 Royal Crescent, Bath BA1 2LR
- Download the Beckford Tower Donation Form and email us your completed copy.
If you would like to find out more about the work we are planning and how your donation will be spent, click here to view our Beckford Tower Fundraising Booklet
Donation Counter
We have beaten our target! We were hoping to raise £10,000 from public donations this year and we managed that at the end of May. The campaign launched in February 2022 and this chart will be updated each month so please continue to support us as the more funds we can raise, the more we can achieve from our project.
We would like to thank everybody who donates to help us deliver our project.
What will we do?
With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and others we aim to widen access to Beckford’s story by reconnecting the Tower and lost landscape, bringing the story of Beckford’s complex, creative life to a wider contemporary audience through:
- New exhibition spaces
- A new visitor experience
- Better interpreting the story of Beckford including wider exploration of
lesser explored themes of Beckford’s life, including sexuality, exile and connections with slavery - New community programmes and volunteering opportunities
- A brand new schools programme
- Comprehensive conservation of the Tower
- Restoration of Beckford’s currently inaccessible Grotto Tunnel
- Conserving the surrounding landscape and creating new footpaths
