Garrison Tower
GARRISON TOWER, THE GARRISON
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1328847
- Date first listed:
- 14-Dec-1992
- List Entry Name:
- Garrison Tower
- Statutory Address:
- GARRISON TOWER, THE GARRISON
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2002-06-04
- Reference:
- IOE01/06838/05
- Rights:
- © Mr GW Tanner. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1328847
- Date first listed:
- 14-Dec-1992
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 14-Feb-2011
- List Entry Name:
- Garrison Tower
- Statutory Address 1:
- GARRISON TOWER, THE GARRISON
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- GARRISON TOWER, THE GARRISON
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Isles of Scilly (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- St. Mary's
- National Grid Reference:
- SV 89802 10334
Details
1358/3/84 THE GARRISON 14-DEC-1992 HUGH TOWN Garrison Tower (Formerly listed as: THE GARRISON HUGH TOWN Signal Gun Tower)
II A C17 windmill, converted to a lookout tower after 1831.
The tower is built of roughly coursed granite, is circular on plan and stands three storeys high. The building is approximately four metres in diameter and twelve metres tall. There are granite lintels over the doorways and windows. The ground-floor doorway is accessed via stone steps, attached to which are a metal balustrade and a low, square, rubble stone structure. The seven windows on the second floor denote the position of the C19 observation room, from which a doorway leads onto a metal balcony. Slit openings at the lower level are probably later insertions. The tower is topped by a stone parapet with a single embrasure. A flagstaff is fixed to one side of the embrasure. A downpipe, with hopper, is fixed to one side of the tower, and cuts through the parapet band.
History: The windmill was probably erected in the early-C17. By 1750 the windmill, together with its partner, which was subsequently destroyed, had been abandoned and ruinous. After 1831 the tower was occupied for a short time by the Coastguard, and in about 1869 it was acquired by Shipping Gazette as a lookout for reporting shipping movements. In 1871 Lloyds of London took over the building, eventually purchasing it in 1882. The building is now used as holiday accommodation.
Sources: Goodwin, J. Granite towers on St, Mary's, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeology, No.32, 1993, 128-139 Woodley, Rev. G. A View of the Present State of the Scilly Islands, 1822, 225.
Cornwall County Council/ English Heritage, Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment for The Isles of Scilly, 2004, p109: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/isles-of-scilly-rczas/islesofscilly20080116095450.pdf [accessed 25/11/10]
Cornwall and Scilly HER records (http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO31568&resourceID=1020):
7901.05: HUGH TOWN - Medieval windmill 7901.06: WINDMILL - Medieval windmill [Accessed on 26/11/10]
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION Garrison Tower, The Garrison, St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly, a former C17 windmill, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural: An interesting example of a pre-1700 windmill, converted to a signal station in the C19. * Historical: A distinctive early windmill tower, and a surviving example of an adapted structure used in the highly-competitive shipping industry of the C19.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 62523
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 22-Jun-2026 at 23:19:03.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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