Our new Visitor  Centre and state-of-the-art exhibition area will be on the ground floor of the Tower, and we hope to welcome our first visitors in May.
Please follow the link to view a recent report from itv Meridian News.

hadlow-tower

This photo of the weather vane was taken just before the scaffolding started to come down. We are above the topmost pinnacles of the lantern, 175 feet above the village.

Now that the weathervane has been installed, and the roof to the ‘lantern’ finished, the topmost scaffolding is being removed. The tail of the weathervane has the letters VT cut into it for the Vivat Trust (who now own the Tower), although in the photo it reads TV as the wind is coming from the south-west. The ornamental metalwork below the vane is based upon photographic evidence from the early 1900s.

This is the first time the topmost pinnacles have been seen for 18 years since the lantern was removed for safety reasons in 1994, even then the pinnacles were replacements made of fibreglass after the originals had become unstable.

The Union Jack was raised on Hadlow Tower to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. 

The scaffolding has now been put in place for the rebuilding of the 40ft missing lantern, which hasn’t been seen for 25 years.

The view left was taken from the eastern approach to the village.

We are still seeking donations towards the Visitor Centre, which will be run by a team of volunteers on public open days.

Please find a donation form linked to our fund-raising page.

Restoration of the Tower is progressing well and some of the decoration is now being reinstated. Sponsorship of rosettes has proved so popular that all 168 have now been sponsored!

Our committee is currently working on the final design and content of the exhibition screens for the Visitor Centre. There will 4 large curved screens to compliment, rather than mirror, the octagonal shape of our dedicated ground floor space and we hope to add some three-dimensional objects and memorabilia. We will also have display space above the living accomodation as the airy spiral staircase ascends to the public viewing area.

The photo shows part of the original wooden internal structure at level 10. This will be replaced by a new steel core to support the reinstated 40ft lantern which will rise above the viewing platform

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View Laura Norris of the Vivat Trust in a BBC South East video clip from March 2012 about the restoration of the Tower  http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-england-14622019

A successful Education Day with pupils and staff from Hadlow Primary School and input from SHTAG Committee members, was held on site on 12 July 2011. Organised by the contractors Mansell, the children learnt about the history of Hadlow Castle, how the Tower was being reconstructed and restored; watched, and participated in, bricklaying and learnt how the new decoration will be made from moulds taken from the old.

All the children were later presented with plaques depicting the Tower, which had been cast in Roman Cement.