Potted history of Broadway Tower*

This iconic Cotswold landmark was completed in 1799. Famous gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown had the idea, and architect James Wyatt designed the honey-stoned folly with turrets, battlements and gargoyles.

The tower stands on Beacon Hill, the second highest summit in the Cotswolds, its foot at 1024 feet (312m), its top 65 feet (20m) above, with views to 16 counties.

The Countess of Coventry sponsored its construction because she wanted to know if she could see a beacon on this hill from her home 22 miles away near Worcester. The answer is yes.

During the 19th century, it hosted a printing press, glovemakers, and visiting artists including William Morris who wrote of being up ‘among the winds and the clouds’.

In World War II, the tower was used as a vantage point by the Royal Observer Corps to track enemy planes over England. Tragically, in June 1943 a British bomber crashed into the hill during a training mission, killing five crew. A memorial marks the spot.

A nuclear bunker was built into the hill during the Cold War to monitor radioactive fallout. It operated from 1961 for 30 years, is immaculately preserved and open to the public on some weekends.

The hilltop around the tower is now a country park, with its own herd of red deer, and the Cotswold Way winds past the door.