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Situated in a park just outside the main city of Bristol, and not that far from a modern wonder of the Victorian age: Brunel's suspension bridge at Clifton, you will find the Cabot Tower. This tower is in fact one of two that dominate the Bristol skyline, the other one, not a folly, being the considerably taller (over twice the height in fact) Wills Memorial Tower of Bristol University.
What the Cabot tower may lack in its physical height of 105 feet though, it makes up for in its position, being situated 260 feet up on the top of Brandon Hill.

     Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :- J P Zajac.

Like most civic schemes today that involve large expense, there was also considerable opposition at the time to the erection of this tower as well. The total cost by the time it was opened on the 6th September 1898 was in the region of £3000, money which many thought could have been better used.
Much like objections against Lord Berner's Tower    in Oxfordshire that was erected 37 years later, the issue of privacy arose. In the case of Cabot Tower it came from the governors of a nearby girls school in Great George Street, which is lower down the hill to the SE, who complained that people - men presumably - would be able to see the young girls playing in the school playground.
On the other hand those in favour argued that the tower may attract a better class of person to the area, than were present at the time! Victorian snobbery at its best.
What ever the eventual reason was however, this magnificent tower of red sandstone dressed with the local Bath stone was finally constructed in all its Gothic glory. The architect chosen being William Gough who said he based the design on a tower in the Loire region of France.

Gough previously had worked as a partner in the design in 1869 of Wait and James' Granary which is still proudly standing on the city's dock front today, a style that later became known as ‘Bristol Byzantine’.


Inside Cabot's tower, which is open daily, is a spiral staircase for those fit people who wish to enjoy the view from the top. Originally there was going to be a lift, and the tower was actually planned so that this could be provided at a later date, but it never materialised.

The tower is named after John Cabot who departed from Bristol 400 years earlier in 1497 and eventually 'discovered' Newfoundland, it is now generally thought though that it had however already been found either by Viking or Irish mariners.


The 'CCCC' that is cut into each side of the tower near the top represents this 400 year anniversary. Above the entrance are the coat of arms of Bristol whilst on the eastern side is the arms of Henry VII, who reigned at the time of Cabot's voyage, along with a plaque telling of Cabot's achievement. The figure on the spire is intended to represent commerce, something that because of its geographical position, Bristol was built on.

Across the other side of the Atlantic in Newfoundland, on what is known as Signal Hill which overlooks St John's, there is to be found another Cabot Tower. This was built partly for the same reason as the Bristol one but in addition it also celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It has though, unlike the Bristol namesake, been witness to one of the twentieth century's greatest leaps of progress, for it was on the same hill that Guglielmo Marconi received his first transatlantic morse code transmission in 1901, several large boxes just to receive the single letter 'S' in morse.......... now where's my mobile phone got to ............

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