Purdown BT Tower, also known as Purdown Transmitter (sometimes written as ''Pur Down''), is a 70.1 metres (230 ft) tall telecommunications tower in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Built in 1970 for the
British Telecom microwave network The British Telecom microwave network was a network of point-to-point microwave radio links in the United Kingdom, operated at first by the General Post Office, and subsequently by its successor BT plc. From the late 1950s to the 1980s it provided a ...
, it is now used to transmit radio and provide mobile phone coverage.
The tower is located on a hill,
Purdown
Purdown (sometimes spelt Pur Down) is a hill in the north east of Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire t ...
, in
Stoke Park in the
Lockleaze
Lockleaze is an area and council ward in the northern suburbs of the city of Bristol, England, north of the city centre, south of Filton, east of Horfield and west of Frenchay.
Lockleaze is a residential area of social housing built on the ...
suburb, about north of the city centre. It is a prominent landmark visible from many areas of the city, and from major transport routes on the approach to the city, including the
M32 motorway and
Filton Bank
Filton Bank is the name given to a section of the Bristol to Birmingham line in Bristol, England, roughly between and stations.
Description
The line runs from Dr Days Junction where the Great Western Main Line branches off from the Bristo ...
railway. The tower is recorded as a Valued Landmark by Bristol City Council, and it has been featured in locally-produced media, such as the opening sequence of TV series
Skins (2008).
It is one of fourteen
reinforced concrete towers owned by BT in the UK.
History
A temporary steel-lattice tower was built on the site in 1961,
ready for the commencement of the
GPO (later to become BT) microwave network, which used a network of point-to-point microwave links. The reinforced concrete tower was built in 1969-71,
[ using a design modified from the GPO's "Chilterns type", pioneered at the ]Stokenchurch BT Tower
Stokenchurch BT Tower is a telecommunications tower built of reinforced concrete at Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire, England. Reaching to above mean sea level, it dates from 1963 and is tall.http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/public/index.php%3Foptio ...
.
Much of the BT microwave network became redundant after the rollout of fibreoptic infrastructure, and, like many other BT towers in the 2000s, the redundant dishes were removed from Purdown in 2008.
Current uses
As of 2022, the tower remains in the ownership of BT, with space leased to various companies for broadcast and mobile communications infrastructure.
Arqiva
Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquarters ...
use the tower to broadcast BBC and commercial radio on FM and DAB to the city.[https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/77072/dso_11b_bristol_bath_dab_v11.pdf ]
Analogue radio (VHF FM)
Digital radio (DAB)
In popular culture
The tower played a prominent part in the series finale of BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
's 2016 drama series ''Thirteen
Thirteen or 13 may refer to:
* 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14
* One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013
Music
* 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band
Albums
* ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013
* ...
'', starring Jodie Comer
Jodie Marie Comer ( ; born 11 March 1993) is an English actress who rose to global prominence for her role as Oksana Astankova / Villanelle in the BBC America spy thriller ''Killing Eve'' (2018–2022).
She has received various accolades inc ...
.
See also
*Telecommunications towers in the United Kingdom
Telecommunications towers in the United Kingdom are operated mainly by Arqiva. Arqiva operates the transmitters for UK terrestrial TV and most radio broadcasting, both analogue and digital. BT also operates a number of telecommunications towe ...
*List of towers
Several extant building fulfill the engineering definition of a tower: "a tall human structure, always taller than it is wide, for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are ''self-supporting' ...
References
External links
Purdown Transmitter pictures on Flickr
{{BT Group
Communication towers in the United Kingdom
Towers in Bristol
British Telecom buildings and structures
Buildings and structures in Bristol
Transmitter sites in England