Loop tower labour of love

Wednesday 04 April 2018

A group of friends are nearing the end of a three year renovation project on number 14 loop tower at Saints Bay to restore it back to its former glory.

The Gardigans d’la Tour, as they are affectionately known, started work on the tower in September 2015 after the site had fallen into disrepair, and previous work to preserve its structure had not been done sympathetically.

The restoration project came about following a walk organised by Nigel Smith for his friends around the south coast. One of the friends who joined the walk was Gary Murchie, who having grown up in St Martins had a particular affinity with the area. Mr Murchie said: "On the walk when the tower came into view we had a discussion on how good it would be to restore it and as enthusiasm grew, by the end of the walk plans had been put in place to investigate how this may be done."

In the spring of 2015, Mr Murchie and Mr Smith met with Helen Glencross from Culture and Leisure and presented a business plan outlining their intentions. In late September 2015 the plans were approved and the keys to the tower were handed over to Mr Murchie and Mr Smith along with a small budget to get them started.

Pictured: Three of the Gardigans; left to right; Kevin Bourgaise, Nigel Smith and Gary Murchie (Keith Pengelley and Dennis Le Prevost unavailable for photo)

The structure was originally built as one of 15 strategically placed towers around the island between 1778 and 1779 and was actually commissioned under British instruction with funds to help build them, it is reported to have cost around £150 per tower. They were put up to protect the island from French invasion during the American war of independence and would have been manned by the Guernsey militia. 

Mr Murchie said: "Before any work on the structure could start we had to clear out the site, we filled 14 one tonne bags full of rubbish right from the basement up, where old rubbish and detritus had accumulated. Birds had roosted in the building and fishermen had dumped old crab pots and fishing gear and all of this had to be removed.

"Then the program of restoration commenced. Most of the internal timbers were rotten, floors, windows were carefully treated and restored if possible, but replaced if not. Each loop tower traditionally had firing steps, which go all around each floor; as these were no longer in existence we had to recreate them to the nearest dimensions using donated scaffolding planks. The steps double up as benches and are now sturdy enough for the job they were intended for."

WATCH: Video with Gary Murchie explaining how the firing steps were used 

It is not the first time someone from his family has worked on the tower, Mr Murchie told Express his dad was involved in the 1970's: "My father worked for States Works in a team who were responsible for the reinstatement of the cliff paths, the roads etc, and part of their duties were that if something like the tower needed work doing to it then they would do it. This was around 1974 and it was in a pretty shocking state so they did what they thought best at the time to basically hold it together and used normal concrete, they didn't think about conservation in the way we do today."

Pictured: View from the top of the tower

The new team wanted to restore the tower using materials as close as possible to those originally used, as such they have sent off samples of wood and mortar and closely matched the results with their own restorative work to ensure a sympathetic make over. Scaffolding was put around the tower to enable the volunteers to repoint it and remove the work done by Mr Murchie's father and instead replace the roof with more traditional mortar.

Mr Murchie said: "It has actually been a labour of love with most of the volunteers retired or semi-retired and giving up their time for free. We have been really blown away with the generosity of the community too, with many companies giving their time or services free, generous donations and even walkers passing by donating cash to the project. We are all learning as we work, reading more about the history of the tower since it has been in place. We are not just concentrating on the history relating to its real use, social history is fascinating and so we will be aiming to bring the last two hundred plus years to life"

WATCH: Gary Murchie talks about the social history of the loop tower

Walkers or passers by are encouraged to go and see the tower with many already enjoying enthusiastic private tours while the team work on site. The aim is to have a grand opening at some point this year, but the icing on the cake will be to install a replica carronade.

Mr Murchie said: "We are hoping to install a replica canon or carronade on the top of the tower once all the relevant permissions have been gained, mannequins dressed in traditional militia uniforms and information boards will really finish the site. Once it is done we plan to fly our specially made flag when someone is present at the tower."

Pictured: Nigel Smith holding the flag which will be raised