Panoramic view of Plymouth from the top of refurbished Devonport Tower

For decades, few have seen the stunning view from top of the Devonport Column. Keith Rossiter and chief photographer Paul Slater join workers restoring the city landmark.

WHAT was a gentle breeze at ground level is a scaffold-rocking half a gale 150ft above street level.

We are on a wooden platform perched 30ft above the last piece of granite ashlar that makes up the 185-year-old Devonport Column.

Plymouth and its surrounds are laid out below us like a gritty Monopoly board.

like our facebook page to win a free bottle of Harrods champagne...

Simon Turner

View details

Print voucher

https://www.facebook.com/SimonTurnerShowrooms?ref=hl

Contact: 01395 200611

Valid until: Saturday, November 30 2013

Paul Andrews, site agent for restoration contractors Ryearch, debates whether we are higher than the 14-storey Civic Centre in the distance to the east. It's a close contest.

In a few months the column, at the heart of Devonport, will open to the public after an £800,000 refurbishment.

The tower was closed in 1992 on safety grounds. Like Sleeping Beauty's castle, it quickly became surrounded by an impenetrable thicket of brambles and weeds.

Once the neighbouring Devonport Guildhall was restored by RIO, the Real Ideas Organisation, attention turned to the Grade 1 listed Column.

Both structures were designed by the early 19th century architect John Foulston. The Column was originally intended to support a statue of King George IV. Inside, 138 stone steps wind in a tight spiral to the observation platform, which will be enclosed in a stainless steel cage for the safety of the public – and to keep out pigeons, says Kate Price of Saltash-based LePage Architects.

Stonemason Ian Piper has so far used about half a tonne of traditional lime mortar to repoint the building and has completed repairs to some of the stonework.

He praises the craftsmanship that went into the Column, built for a mere £2,750 by John Lipscombe Rickard, a local builder. Its stone spiral staircase – 138 weary steps – is a work of art.

"You might build a staircase like that now, but it would cost a lot of money," he says.

Mr Piper, of CF Piper & Son, is working on the Column with his son Alex and Peter Harper. "When we originally looked at it all of the outer walls were covered in brambles and we couldn't see what had to be done."

The project – mostly funded by a grant of £665,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund – has done a lot more than merely restore a tower.

RIO has worked with students from local schools to create a heritage education package based on the Column. Plymouth University School of Architecture has used the project in its own courses, and students from Plymouth College of Art are taking part in a competition to design the entrance gates. Construction students from City College Plymouth will also be getting work experience on the site. "It's a fantastic opportunity for them to see how you preserve a heritage site, and also to develop employability skills," Sharron Robbie, the college's corporate relations manager, said.

When the Column reopens to the public in the New Year they will be able to buy tickets from the Guildhall and then go through a turnstile to climb to the viewing platform.

Only the very tip of a new flagpole will have the stunning view of the city shared this week by Paul Andrews, Herald photographer Paul Slater and me.

RESTORATION

THE refurbished Column will have new digital technologies and a wireless internet system built in to allow the use of mobile-based games, augmented reality and interactive 3D building projections.

Plans include establishing a nature reserve, creating a rose garden and a public plaza.

The building is in the form of a Greek Doric column. Its base is a panelled plinth set on a high-stepped granite ashlar platform approached by steps.

To south side is a cast-iron plaque with crown and inscribed: “Devonport, January 1st 1824”, commemorating the change of name from Plymouth Dock to Devonport and the Charter of the Borough.