(1760–1844) Beckford's Tower in
Lansdown, overlooking the city of
Bath, was completed in 1827 for wealthy local resident
William Beckford, to a design by Bath architect
Henry Goodridge. Beckford was a member of the influential
Beckford family. He was a
novelist, an art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed at one stage to be the richest
commoner in England. In 1822 he sold
Fonthill Abbey, and a large part of his art collection, to
John Farquhar for £330,000, and moved to Bath, where he bought No. 20
Lansdown Crescent and No. 1 Lansdown Place West, joining them with a one-storey arch thrown across a driveway. In 1836 he also bought Nos. 18 and 19 Lansdown Crescent. Located at the end of pleasure gardens called Beckford's Ride which ran from his house in Lansdown Crescent all the way north to the tower at the top of Lansdown Hill, Beckford used the monument as both a library and a retreat. He also made it his habit to ride up to the tower to view the progress of gardens and works, then walk back down to Lansdown Crescent for breakfast. From the top of the tower, with a strong spyglass, Beckford could make out shipping in the
Bristol Channel. Beckford wished that he had built the tower forty feet higher and admitted: "such as it is, it is a famous landmark for drunken farmers on their way home from market". Beckford's own choice of the best of works of art,
vertu, books and prints, as well as the rich furnishings from Fonthill Abbey, were rehoused in his adjoining houses in Lansdown Crescent, Bath and at the tower. One long narrow room in the tower was fitted out as an "oratory", where the paintings were all of devotional subjects and a marble
Virgin and Child stood bathed in light from a hidden skylight. In 1841 some of the contents of the tower were sold during a two-day sale and the rooms refurnished.
Later owners of the Crimson Drawing Room at Beckford's Tower. First published in English's
Views of Lansdown Tower (1844) After Beckford's death on 2 May 1844 his younger daughter Susan Euphemia Beckford, wife of
Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, removed the books and greatest treasures to
Hamilton Palace and the tower was put up for sale. It failed to reach its
reserve, however. In 1847 the tower was sold for £1,000 to a local publican who turned it into a beer garden. Eventually it was re-purchased by Beckford's daughter, who gave the surrounding land to
Walcot parish for consecration as a cemetery in 1848. The local
fire brigade managed to stop the fire reaching the wooden stairs to the top of the tower.
Prebendary F. E. Murphy, the rector of Walcot, established an appeal for funds of £300 for the restoration. By 1954 the stairs up the tower had become unsafe and a further appeal for public funds for the restoration was started. In 1970 the
Church Commissioners declared the chapel
redundant and plans drawn up by the new owners, Dr & Mrs Hilliard, to renovate the tower and create two flats. In 1972 the tower was designated as a Grade I
listed building. The Beckford Tower Trust and the museum were established in 1977.
Bath Preservation Trust Since 1993 the tower has been owned by the
Bath Preservation Trust and managed by its subsidiary, The Beckford Tower Trust, a registered charity. The tower was restored in 1995 and was opened to the public in 2001. The ground floor of the tower is available to rent through the
Landmark Trust as a holiday home. In 2019,
Historic England placed the tower on their
Heritage at Risk Register as it was suffering from water penetration. An initial £390,900 was received from the
National Lottery Heritage Fund in December 2019, and the trust was able to buy the site, of about 2.5 acres, in 2021. In September 2022, a £3 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund was confirmed, reaching the then fundraising target of £3.9 million. The tower and museum reopened on completion of the work in June 2024. ==Architecture==