Bath-based specialist building contractor Emery Brothers has been appointed to carry out essential restoration work on the city’s iconic Beckford’s Tower as part of a £3.9m heritage project.
Owned and run by Bath Preservation Trust (BPT), the landmark Grade I listed building, pictured, has been on Historic England’s national Heritage at Risk register for four years due to its poor condition.
It was built on Lansdown Hill between 1826 and 1827 as a personal retreat for novelist, art critic, planter and politician William Beckford.
The essential capital works now being carried out by Emery Brothers has been sponsored by grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England among other funders and will help to preserve and maintain this unique heritage attraction for the future.
Bathford-based Emery Brothers, a family-run building contractor with 75 years’ trading experience with domestic and commercial clients, has wide experience in restoration work.
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.
The repair work and refurbishments are expected be completed by early next year, with the tower due to reopen to the public in March.
BPT director of museums Claire Dixon, who is leading the Beckford Tower project, said: “As a local firm with experience of historic restoration work and existing knowledge of Beckford’s Tower and its conservation needs, Emery’s are the ideal candidates to take this exciting project work forward.
“This appointment enables us to launch the final phase of the project, which is now fully funded thanks to generous support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, Art Fund and various other public and private funders.”
Emery Bros contract manager Felix Emery added: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract for the works at Beckford’s Tower and look forward to playing our part in restoring another Bath landmark and securing its future for another generation.”
Beckford’s Tower was built intended to house William Beckford’s collections 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.
Emery’s appointment follows those of London-based historic buildings architects Thomas Ford & Partners, and Bristol-based digital interpretation specialists Zubr Curio and Calvium on BTP’s Our Tower: Reconnecting Beckford’s Tower and Landscape for all project.
As well as renovating the tower and transforming its museum, it 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 (currently closed) 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.
