The Tower Project arose from many years of monitoring movement in the tower but in recent years became more urgent as a necessary repair.  A planning committee was formed in early 2025 to see how the funds could be raised for this enormous project which would cost around £250,000.  Heritage Lottery Funding was sought and we then received the great news that the application had been successful and a grant of £234,000 was awarded.  The remaining funds were raised through the congregation and other grants.

The main issue was that the steps were disintegrating.  However, due to the nature of the steps, each one holds the next one up.  This meant that these needed to be dismantled by taking each one down and then rebuilt.  In order for the tower to remain stable, this required scaffolding to be put up with some of this being structural to hold the tower up.  This was erected in January 2026 when the works commenced.

The organ was also covered to protect it from the dust from the works.

The Tower Project was made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to repair and renovate the tower. 

In April 2026, during the works, some additional repairs were found to be needed.  The original works cost less than anticipated so with Lottery Approval the extra works have been undertaken. These included displaced stones to the south east corner buttress offset and thin cladding with no ties and gapping to the walls. There was also daylight visible between the buttress and backing wall – a gap of 40mm as well as cracked render repair.

Other additional works that were identified included the rotten door, which has been replaced. There was a lack of protection between the tower crenels. New safety barriers have now been installed between the crenels. The rail at the top of the tower was also very minimal.  This has now been replaced with a more robust safety rail.

The works were all concluded in May 2026 with the scaffolding taken down in June 2026.

A selection of images illustrating the works can be found below.

On 11 July 2026, we held an Open Day to mark the reopening of the tower following the conclusion of the works. The event also marked the 75^th Anniversary of Trowell being Festival Village in 1951.

Our Tower of Flowers was made by many people from the community and beyond who knitted, crocheted and crafted flowers to enable us to display this for the Festival Village and Tower Celebrations.

The day started off with a peal from the bell ringers lasting 45 minutes.

Throughout the day, our many visitors enjoyed tower tours, refreshments and cream teas. Some explored the tower in person, and for those who preferred not to climb, a virtual reality headset option was also available. We invited children to bring along their teddies, who travelled up and down the outside of the tower in a basket! There was also a display explaining the work on the tower, along with memorabilia of Trowell.

The Mayor of Broxtowe, Councillor Barbara Carr and her escort, Steve Carr, visited in the afternoon and made a presentation to the winner of the Trowell Challenge Badge.  Entries for this were from Trowell School, Foxwood Academy and Trowell Brownies and Guides.