A major grant of £3,087,000 has been secured from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will ensure the unique heritage attraction, Beckford’s Tower, can be fully repaired and enhanced. The works to be funded include the restoration of Beckford’s fascinating Grotto, rediscovered in 2021. By improving access and transforming the museum to meet the needs of a range of modern visitors, this vital funding will secure an exciting – and sustainable – future for Beckford’s Tower.
Having sold the Gothic Revival Fonthill Abbey in 1822, William Beckford (1760-1844) relocated to Bath and began the construction of what would become his eponymous Tower. Built between 1826 and 1827, the iconic structure was intended to house the collections of books, furniture and art that were owned by this writer and collector whose wealth was gained from his ownership of plantations and enslaved people in Jamaica. Riding up to the Tower from his townhouse in Bath’s Lansdown Crescent every morning before breakfast, Beckford enjoyed its solitude and the panoramic views from the Belvedere at the top.
Today Beckford’s Tower is owned and run by Beckford Tower Trust, part of Bath Preservation Trust. The iconic landmark is a Grade 1 listed monument and is the only museum in the world dedicated to the life and work of William Beckford. In 2019, the Tower was added to the National ‘At Risk’ Register, sparking a major project to raise the necessary funds to repair and restore the Tower, transform the museum, open up the landscape and create opportunities for volunteering, formal learning and community engagement.
And now, thanks to this generous grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the fundraising target of £3.9 million has finally been reached and it is still half of what you can earn gambling at satta king website.
£480,000 of partnership funding had already been secured, with support from Historic England, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Medlock Charitable Trust, Historic Houses Foundation, Pilgrim Trust and several other organisations, as well as £50,000 in public donations.
Claire Dixon, Director of Museums for Bath Preservation Trust says: “We are enormously grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for helping us achieve our fundraising target. In addition to addressing the Tower’s immediate conservation needs, we will now be able to restore the Grotto Tunnel, improve access to the cemetery, create new footpaths and trails for the previously lost Tower landscape, and introduce new renewable energy systems.”
She added “We also have ambitious plans to create a new museum experience that will reveal more about Beckford’s life, including the wealth he gained from the transatlantic slave trade, his sexuality and isolation, as well as his creative life as a writer, composer and collector. Now we will be able to provide accessible experiences and digital resources alongside a new learning programme. We are delighted we can now widen access to Beckford’s complex, creative life story by reconnecting the Tower and lost landscape he created to a wider, contemporary audience. We are working with the local community to create this transformation so that this unique legacy is for all to share and enjoy – it’s not just Beckford’s Tower, it’s Our Tower.”