Job vacancy – Interpretation Consultancy Brief for Beckford’s Tower

The Beckford Tower Trust (BTT) owns and manages Beckford’s Tower, the last surviving building connected with the historically significant William Beckford. Located within the area of Lansdown, the building is open to the public at weekends, operating as a museum and Tower experience. Connected to the public buildings is a property leased to the Landmark Trust, operating as a holiday let. The Trust recognises an urgent conservation need to repair and conserve the Tower and is seeing this as an opportunity to develop our visitor experience, engage wider audiences and reconnect the Tower with its lost landscape, through new experiences, interpretation and access.

The initial exploratory works have been funded by Beckford Tower Trust (BTT), which has been awarded a development grant by the National Heritage Lottery Fund (NLHF) to develop their own proposals up to submission of planning and to assess their costs for the project. The outcome of this development work will influence the works to be carried out during the delivery phase, which we aim to fund through a combination of sources including a further NLHF grant, other grants and donations including that gained by direct fundraising. On completion of this development work a NLHF Round 2 grant request will be made and if successful, the conservation works and other activity plans will be funded by BTT with substantial support from its sole Trustee, Bath Preservation Trust (BPT) as well as from the NLHF.

These works will be carried out in two phases, the first (the Round 2 Development Work) will focus on the research and design of suggested new interpretation and displays in the Museum, Basement, Grotto Tunnel and wider landscape to allow submission of listed building and planning applications and a Round 2 NLHF application to request further funding.) This will require the completion of an interpretation Strategy that will inform our Conservation Management Plan.

The second will be the finalising and implementation of the strategy and works if the application is successful.

For the full project brief and details on how to apply, please visit the Beckford’s Tower Trust website>>

Timetable

• Sunday 24 January – Deadline for tenders, received and reviewed by Claire Dixon, Director of Museums and supporting staff and Trustees
• Week commencing Monday 25 January – Shortlisting by Claire Dixon, Director of Museums and supporting staff and Trustees
• Week commencing 1 February – Tours for shortlisted candidates with Dr. Amy Frost, Senior Curator
• Week commencing 8 February – Interviews with Claire Dixon, Director of Museums, Dr. Amy Frost, Senior Curator and Julie Finch, Chair of Museums & Education Committee

Submission

Initial tenders to be received no later than Sunday 24 January
Tenders to be submitted to admin@bptrust.org.uk
Any enquiries about this project to be directed to cdixon@bptrust.org.uk

Bath Preservation Trust is committed to diversifying our audiences and workforce in line with the priorities of those organisations. We actively encourage applications from candidates from groups under-represented in our organisation including; Black and minority ethnic people and Disabled people.