button to main menu  Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.144
button introduction
button list, 3rd qtr 19th century
button previous page button next page
Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.144
Trustees of the Town Lands, and Mr. Postlethwaite, (the Lessee,) gave their willing consent, - the latter gentelman allowing free access to the Tower at all times, and obligingly taking it under his own charge.
The first stone was laid, in the presence of 8000 people, on the 15th May, 1850, and the Tower completed at the close of the same year. The following description of the structure was written by Mr. Andrew Trimen, its architect:
The plan of the tower is circular, with a spreading base, the general form being similar to that of the Eddystone; the lantern however in this case is of the same material as the general structure, and forms a consistent architectural feature.
The structure is based on the solid limestone rock, of which the Hoad Hill is composed, and which was found immediately under the turf at the summit. The ring immediately above the surface is 150 feet in circuit, being wrought in stone, and forming a set-off or base, two feet in width, from which the surrounding panorama, one of the most beautiful in England, may be contemplated in all directions. The thickness of the wall, at the surface, is twelve feet six inches, intersected with a dry chamber five feet at the base. The wall diminishes in thickness from twelve feet six inches to two feet at the cornice, which is wrought of massive limestone. The whole of the lantern and the dome is formed of the same material, being wrought within and without. The steps of the door, and window jambs, the several rings of set-offs, are all in the durable wrought limestone of the neighbourhood. The general walling is in the same stone, and hammered to a sufficiently correct form. The lime of the mortar is from the same material, and set so hard, that, as the whole is compactly built (every stone being completely bedded in the mortar, and every joint completely flushed or filled,) in a short time the walls, it is expected, will form one thickness, of a most strong and lasting character.
Probably no stone and mortar with which we are acquainted is better calculated to resist all influences of weather than that of Furness, and this monument, we trust, bids fair to stand as lasting a record as any in the island of an event of the age.
The interior is approached from due south by a wide flight of steps, on the right of which will be observed the "First Stone," with its inscription:-

ON THE 15TH MAY, A.D. 1850,
IN THE 13TH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF
HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY, QUEEN VICTORIA, SIR GEORGE BARROW, BART.
AND JOHN BARROW, ESQ. F.R.S.
DEPOSITED THIS STONE TO RECORD THE
COMMENCEMENT OF THE
TESTIMONIAL TO THE LATE SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.
ANDREW TRIMEN, ARCHITECT.
Over the entrance door are cut in bold relief the words:-

IN HONOUR OF
SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.
ERECTED A.D. 1850.
The saloon, or principal floor, is elevated about seven feet from the hill, thus furnishing a basement beneath. This apartment is eighteen feet nine inches in diameter, having deeply recessed windows to the cardinal points, the view from each of which can be scarcely equalled, either for sublimity or variety of beauty. A stove and range are formed in the recess of the west window.
Iron girders form the skeletons of the several floors, so that the whole may be fireproof. The lantern is gained by a solid flight of stone stairs, protected by an ornamental iron balustrade, cast on the spot from the valuable ore procured from the base of Hoad. The pattern is of the fifteenth century, each exhibiting the initials J. B. The visitor, while winding the surface of the interior of the cone, is cheered by an occasional peep from the several windows with which the sides are pierced, and reminded of the reward of the beautiful prospect that awaits him at the summit.
The interior of the lantern is nine feet four inches in diameter, and perforated with eight circular openings: the same number of pilasters support the entablature and dome; around the interior are graven the words Soli Deo Gloria.
A flag-staff of due proportions is fixed from the lantern, from which the flag of the nation, (a line-of-battle ship's Union Jack, presented by the Lords of the Admiralty, as a mark of their respect to the memory of Sir John Barrow,) wafted by his native mountain breezes, will announce to generations yet unborn that the day of birth of true greatness excites a na-
button next page
gazetteer links
button -- Sir John Barrow Monument
button to main menu Lakes Guides menu.