Financial help for tradespeople, artisans and apprentices in Bath to develop practical building conservation skills is now available.
Part of the development project for Bath’s Beckford’s Tower, the scheme aims to increase specialist skills – particularly where they are in decline.
The bursaries will cover course fees delivered by third parties offering suitable training courses, plus a contribution towards travel and subsistence costs.
Each applicant can secure funding for one course of their choosing, with training to be undertaken this summer/autumn.
The £3.9m restoration of Grade 1 listed Beckford’s Tower on Lansdown Hill is mainly being funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Owned and run by Bath Preservation Trust (BPT), the landmark Grade I listed building, pictured, had been on Historic England’s national Heritage at Risk register for four years due to its poor condition. BPT plans to reopen it this summer.
BTP director of museums Patrizia Ribul said: “Thanks to the generosity of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and lottery players, we are now in a position to offer help to local tradespeople and apprentices who are seeking to improve their skills in the field of building conservation.
“Bath Preservation Trust is committed to promoting the conservation, sustainable enhancement and celebration of this unique historic city and green surrounds, and bursaries like these enable us to shape the future of Bath, by giving means and agency to the people who live and work here.”
Beckford’s Tower was built between 1826 and 1827 as a personal retreat for novelist, art critic, planter and politician William Beckford and house his collection of books, furniture and art.
Every morning before breakfast, he would ride from his townhouse in Lansdown Crescent to enjoy the quiet and solitude of the tower and the glorious views from the belvedere at the top.
As well as renovating the tower and transforming its museum, the Beckford’s Tower development project will also open up the landscape, provide accessible experiences and also provide digital resources alongside a new learning programme and opportunities for volunteering and community engagement.
Beckford’s wealth was secured from his ownership of plantations and enslaved people and the project will enable better interpretation of his story based on wider exploration of his connections with the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Beckford’s Tower is one of four museums owned by the BPT, along with No. 1 Royal Crescent, the Museum of Bath Architecture and the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.
BPT receives no statutory funding and is supported by visitor income, grants, legacies, donations and members who share a passion for the city and its environs.
Restoration work on Beckford’s Tower is being carried out by Bath-based specialist building contractor Emery Brothers, a family-run building contractor with 75 years’ trading experience with domestic and commercial clients.
The firm, which employs more than 50 people, many of them skilled craftsmen, regularly works on historic buildings in Bath, including the major refurbishment of Grade I listed Bath Abbey, Theatre Royal, the Royal Crescent and Great Pulteney Street.
It previously completed the sensitive restoration of Beckford Tower’s golden lantern so has existing knowledge of the building’s special conservation requirements.
