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Finding a new purpose for an 18th-century tower

Finding a new purpose for an 18th-century tower

Feature

The Gothic Tower

Site

Painshill Park, Surrey

Issue

The Gothic Tower, after restoration, in Painshill Park, photographed in spring 2006. Photograph copyright: Louise Wickham, 2006.The Gothic Tower, after restoration, in Painshill Park, photographed in spring 2006. Photograph copyright: Louise Wickham, 2006. As part of the restoration of Painshill Park, the 18th-century Gothic Tower needed to be restored and brought back into use as a functional building.

Background

The four-storey, 90-foot-high Gothic Tower, built of brick in the 1750s, was an imitation of a medieval watchtower.

The tower had been used residentially in the 19th century. In 1973, it was gutted by fire.

Solution

It was restored in 1989 with residential accommodation on the first and second floors, and visitor facilities on the ground floor, third floor and roof.