Published Friday 26 August 2022 at 11:24
Darreners will once again be able to enjoy a trip to the top of the Tower with its £300,000 restoration now fully completed.
Thousands turned out to Darwen Tower for the lighting of a Jubilee Beacon there in June – marking the Queen’s 70 year reign and the external works being revealed.
Inside, the painstaking work continued to restore the Grade-II listed building with improvements to the internal structure, staircase and the iconic dome at the top.
Today marks the first day that a new oak door there will officially open – in time for the Bank Holiday weekend.
Martin Eden, Director of Place at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:
Darwen Tower really is back to looking its best and the outpouring of support for the project has been incredible.
Around 4,000 people turned out on the moors for the lighting of the beacon – it was a fantastic response to the Jubilee and it really demonstrated Darrener’s community pride for the Tower.
The works have been truly painstaking, but the end result is absolutely worth it and we can’t wait for residents to once again to be able to enjoy the stunning views from the top.
The restoration works have been funded by Darwen Town Deal, Darwen Rotary and Blackburn with Darwen Council and have been undertaken by specialist contractors UK Restoration Services in close consultation with Heritage England.
A new addition at the Tower is an oak door which has been installed to help prevent vandalism.
Martin added:
Darwen Tower is loved by so many, but as we’ve said before, its prominent location on the top of the moors sadly makes it vulnerable too – both to the weather and also a very small minority who congregate there and cause damage.
We want to protect the Tower for future generations to enjoy and with the vandalism continuing during the latter stages of the works, we’re trialling the new door which will initially be open daily from 8am to 6:30pm.
The opening times mean it can be enjoyed by those who really love the Tower and we hope it’ll deter those who may not understand just what it means to so many.
As part of the Darwen Town Deal, £3m could be invested to improve and create new links and pathways from the town centre, up and across the moors, including to the Tower over the next four years.
The plans are part of business cases submitted to the Government to unlock £25m of funding secured for the town – the full amount available.
Martin said:
I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in the restoration project – saving the Tower was really important to Darreners and the end result is something we can all be proud of.
The opening of the door will be reviewed with a long-term plan to be considered going forward. Full details will be shared as soon as they are agreed.
To find out more about Darwen Town Deal, visit: www.darwentowndeal.co.uk
For the latest updates on the Tower and Council news, follow Blackburn with Darwen Council on Facebook and Twitter.
With thanks to Grant Robertson for the new picture of Darwen’s Jubilee Tower following completion of the works