Context 169 - September 2021

Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Tom Copp Nigel Crowe Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Andrew McClelland Fiona Newton Louise Priestman Gordon Sorensen Jonathan Taylor Michael Taylor (chair) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2021 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA 01747 871717 context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £60.00 Elsewhere £90.00 Context on-line archive Past issues of Context can be viewed on the IHBC website. The archive provides a searchable database and reference for key articles. See www.ihbc.org.uk/page55/ context_archive. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication.While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Context themes and copy deadlines Context is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. The next three themes and copy deadlines are: River Severn , December, issue 170 (8 October) High Streets , March, issue 171 (14 January) Regulations and codes , June, issue 172 (8 April) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 C O N T E X T 1 6 9 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 Briefing Beckford’s Tower The Our Tower project, funded by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will carry out urgent repair and conservation works required to the almost 200-year-old Grade I listed Beckford’s Tower, a museum dedicated to William Beckford. In 1826 Beckford commissioned a landscape back home in Bath; a garden between his Lansdown Crescent home and the retreat now known as Beckford’s Tower, where he could escape from the city in a natural environment. The tower was created to house his library, art collection. Every day Beckford would ride up there from his home, accompanied by his pack of spaniels. This expanse became known as Beckford’s Ride, a mile of interlinked gardens. The tower was added to the heritage-at-risk register in 2019. The Bath Preservation Trust will use the project as an opportunity to develop the visitor experience, engage wider audiences and reconnect the tower with its lost landscape, through new experiences, interpretation and access. A development grant awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund will enable the trust to re-examine Beckford’s links to the transatlantic slave trade. Thomas Ford and Partners is the conservation architect. Beckford’s Tower housed the famous eccentric’s library and art collection (Photo: Daderot, Wikimedia)