Compass Point storm tower

The Storm Tower
The Storm Tower
Alternative names	The Pepperpot
General information
Type	Lookout tower
Location	Compass Point, Bude–Stratton
Country	England
Coordinates	50.828586°N 4.556621°W
Grid position	SS2004606343
Client	Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet
Design and construction
Architect(s)	George Wightwick
Designations	Grade II listed
Known for	Being relocated

The Storm Tower at Compass Point, Bude–Stratton, Cornwall, England, is an octagonal lookout tower, modelled on the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece.[1][2][3] It is known locally as the Pepperpot.[1]

The tower was built in 1835 on the instructions of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet, to a design by George Wightwick, as a place from which coastguards could observe ships on the adjacent Atlantic Ocean.[1][3]

Historic England describe it thus:[3]

Roughly-dressed stone brought to course with freestone quoins... on plinth with 3 granite steps up to entrance on east side. Entrance has entablature and pediment on freestone pilasters. Each side has slit window with stone sill, those to north-east and north-west blocked. The points of the compass are carved as a frieze in sans-serif below the moulded cornice. Low pyramidal roof with moulded base to cross formerly surmounting tower. Interior has slate floor and brick dressings to slit windows.

The current roof is not original.[1] As built, the tower was aligned to magnetic north, but polar drift means this is now seven degrees out.[1]

The tower sits on a sandstone and shale cliff that is described as friable and which is subject to erosion, averaging 1 metre (1.1 yd) a year, but with the potential for a 25-metre (27 yd) loss at any time.[1] As a result, the tower had to be moved a short distance from the cliff edge in 1881.[1] Because of the ongoing threat of erosion, there are plans to dismantle the tower and reconstruct it 100 metres (110 yd) further inland, at a cost of around £450,000, over a six-month period starting in late April 2023.[1] Funding has been provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (£249,362), public crowdfunding (£58,000), Cornwall Council (£50,000) and Bude-Stratton town council (£40,000).[1] The work is to be undertaken by specialist contractors Sally Strachey Historic Conservation.[2]

The tower has been Grade II listed since September 1985,[3] giving it legal protection against unauthorised alteration or demolition.

References

Weeks, Jonny (9 April 2023). "Race to rescue Bude's Pepperpot lookout tower from being swept into the sea". The Observer. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
"Work to move Bude storm tower to start in April". BBC News. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
Historic England. "The Storm Tower, Bude-Stratton (Grade II) (1141875)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 April 2023.

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[Weeks-1] Weeks, Jonny (9 April 2023). "Race to rescue Bude's Pepperpot lookout tower from being swept into the sea". The Observer. Retrieved 9 April 2023.

[BBC-65016081-2] "Work to move Bude storm tower to start in April". BBC News. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.

[HE-3] Historic England. "The Storm Tower, Bude-Stratton (Grade II) (1141875)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 April 2023.