Venue Description

Built between 1826 and 1827, Beckford’s Tower originally housed the collection of William Beckford (1760-1844) and sat at the top of a mile-long garden he created between the Tower and his home at Lansdown Crescent, Bath. Following Beckford’s death in 1844 the Tower was emptied of its contents and converted into a funeral chapel for Walcot Parish, Bath. Since 1972 it has been run as a museum by the Beckford Tower Trust/Bath Preservation Trust. In 2022 Bath Preservation Trust received a £3.9m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to repair the Tower and take it off the Heritage At Risk register. The core aim of the “Our Tower” project was to fully restore the Tower, but the team has achieved so much more than this: improving access for all using physical and digital means; adding state-of -the art sustainable energy systems to the building; opening up new spaces in the Tower and landscape for visitors to explore, such as the newly uncovered Grotto tunnel; developing the landscape into a green community asset; and retelling the story of William Beckford’s complicity in the transatlantic slave trade.

Accessibility

• New access video for the website • Step-free Tower Vault containing tactile models and braille visitor guides • New electric all-terrain wheelchair that visitors can borrow to get around in the landscape • Level pathway running the length of the site from the Grotto Tunnel to the Tower, with benches along the way for people with mobility issues to take a rest • Sensory packs for neuro-diverse visitors • Social story and sensory map • Digital binoculars providing a 360 video tour • Access-all-areas app • Go-pro camera, which can be live streamed to an iPad Beckford’s Tower and Museum prioritised accessibility during the 2022-2024 “Our Tower” project, re-planning pathways, installing an accessible toilet, adding a new app and digital binoculars (created by Zubr Curio) to provide visual access to all areas, opening up the previously inaccessible Tower Vault with a step-free entryway and various visual aids (created by the Centre for Print Research at the University of West of England) within, and introducing sensory backpacks for neuro-diverse visitors. There is also an opportunity to borrow a Go-Pro camera and iPad to experience the views from the top of the Tower virtually. Access to the main museum and lantern is still limited to the spiral staircase, due to the listed nature of the building. However we have done everything possible to make these spaces accessible via digital means, and we also opened the step-free Tower Vault specifically as an accessible space, so that everyone can enjoy physically being inside the building.

Accessibility Guide

Accessibility Guide Link: https://beckfordstower.org.uk/accessibility-and-edi-statement/

Access Statement

Access Statement Link: https://beckfordstower.org.uk/accessibility-and-edi-statement/

Toilets

Large accessible toilet

Staff

Information about the staff has not been added for this venue.