Built between 1796 and 1813 at Fonthill Gifford, this gothic folly, which was subsequently filled with art, was the brainchild of slaveowner William Beckford. By 1821, however, he was overcome with debts from the build, estimated at around £145,000 (approximately £15 million in today’s money) and put the Abbey up for auction.
September 1822 saw around 700 sightseers visit the abbey after it was handed over to auctioneer James Christie.

Lancaster Tower of Fonthill abbey in 2017, with a modern house belonging to Mr and Mrs Morant in the background
Photo courtesy Goldhill Museum

This year sees the second centenary of the scheduled auction date, 17 September 1822 and to commemorate Gold Hill Museum are putting on an exhibition ‘Fonthill Fever’ until 31 October.
Unfortunately the central tower collapsed in 1825, leaving little of the building standing today.

Sidney Blackmore, Secretary of the Beckford Society and curator of Gold Hill Museum’s ‘Fonthill Fever’ exhibition with scale model of Fonthill Abbey, kindly loaned by Beckford’s Tower and Museum
Photo by Ian Kellet