Jubilee Tower: Difference between revisions

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The octagonal Jubilee Tower (sometimes called Darwen Tower) at grid reference 53°41'22.75"N 2°29'16.72"W on Beacon Hill overlooking the town of Darwen in Lancashire, England, UK, was completed in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and also to celebrate the victory of the local people for the right to access the moor. It was opened to the public on 22 September 1898.

85 feet (25.9 m) in height, walkers can climb to the top via the internal staircase to admire the views of North Yorkshire, Morecambe Bay, Blackpool Tower, Cumbria, the Isle of Man, North Wales, Derbyshire elsewhere in Lancashire, and surrounding moorland.

There is a stone spiral staircase to the first level and slightly above, followed by a smaller metal spiral staircase which leads to the very top. Wind speeds can be very high at the top of the tower, and often mist below will obscure the surrounding views. In 1947 the original wooden turret built by a crew including apprentice Ernest Brooks of Darwen (who later built the Lytch Gate at Sunnyhurst Wood) on top of the tower was blown off in a gale and was not replaced until 1971 when the tower was crowned once again with a glass dome paid for mainly by fund raising by local people. The tower was closed to the public for 19 months due to being deemed unsafe for use.

Refurbishment

The tower was closed to the public in October 2000 due to investigations that the tower was unsafe to the public, it was also noted in a spring 2001 survey that the structure had severe decay in the stone decking. The refurbishment was supposed to take 2-3 months to complete but many delays like the foot and mouth crisis which was present at the time kept cropping up. The tower was finally re-opened on 9 April 2002.

External links

53°41′20″N 2°29′21″W / 53.68895°N 2.48907°W / 53.68895; -2.48907

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 There is a stone spiral staircase to the first level and slightly above, followed by a smaller metal spiral staircase which leads to the very top. Wind speeds can be very high at the top of the tower, and often mist below will obscure the surrounding views. In 1947 the original wooden turret built by a crew including apprentice Ernest Brooks of Darwen (who later built the Lytch Gate at Sunnyhurst Wood) on top of the tower was blown off in a gale and was not replaced until 1971  when the tower was crowned once again with a glass dome paid for mainly by fund raising by local people.  The tower was closed to the public for 19 months due to being deemed unsafe for use.
-==History==
-Councillor Robert Shorrock, chairman of the parks committee, formally proposed at a town meeting in 1897 that a tower be built above Red Delph quarry and more than £1,500 was quickly raised by public subscription.
-The first sod was cut on June 22, a public holiday, before a large crowd and the festivities, which included a giant bonfire, went on well into the night.
-A tender of £773 3s 5d from local builder James Whalley, of Sunny Bank Saw Mills, had been accepted and during the following months two of his stonemasons, Peter Brindle and Harry Flew, toiled away often in appalling conditions, swept with rain and sleet and often frozen to the marrow.
-They walked over the hills from Wheelton every day and decided not to lodge nearer their work as they had some gardening to do when they got home! Tons of fine-grained red sandstone from the nearby quarry were used in the construction of the octagonal tower which stands on a base 1,225 ft high.
-The opening ceremony, on September 24, 1898, was performed by the Rev. Duckworth and he took the opportunity to make a plea to townsfolk to cause as little disturbance as possible to game, especially in the mating season. More than 3,000 people assembled for the festivities.
-It has certainly stood the test of time -100 years of battering from the weather, hooligans, moorland fires and swirling soot and smoke from the forest of chimneys in the valley below. The tower even survived a war-time suggestion that it should be demolished as it was feared it could be a useful landmark for enemy bombers! .<ref name="bbclancs">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2008/03/18/history_darwen_tower_feature.shtml|title=Lancashire landmarks: Darwen Tower |date=18 March 2008 |work=BBC Lancashire |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref> <references/>
 ==Refurbishment==
 The tower was closed to the public in October 2000 due to investigations that the tower was unsafe to the public, it was also noted in a spring 2001 survey that the structure had severe decay in the stone decking. The refurbishment was supposed to take 2-3 months to complete but many delays like the foot and mouth crisis which was present at the time kept cropping up. The tower was finally re-opened on 9 April 2002.
 ==External links==
 * [http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?LANGUAGE=eng&pageID=1336 History of the Tower]
+* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2008/03/18/history_darwen_tower_feature.shtml BBC History Article]
 {{coord|53.68895|N|2.48907|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SD678215)|display=title}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->