Chamberlain Tower

Chamberlain Tower is a campanile tower built around 1909 to designs by Aston Webb and Ingress Bell for the University of Birmingham. It was inspired by the Torre del Mangia at Siena.

The tower is constructed of red Accrington brick with Darley Dale stone for the dressings and upper sections, covered by a lead roof. A solid concrete base supports the structure, which rises to a height of approximately 100 metres. It is centrally located within the original university campus, aligned on the main north-south axis running from the northern entrance gates to the Great Hall.

The tower is square in plan. The lowest stage is faced in rusticated ashlar stone and contains an arched passage, aligned with the Great Hall entrance to the south and the university gates to the north. Doors within the archway provide access to the tower itself – one directly to a lift, and the other to the stairwell. An inscription encircles the tower, reading: 'THIS TOWER COMMEMORATES THE FOUNDING/ OF THE UNIVERSITY THROUGH THE INITIATIVE/ AND ACTIVE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ITS FIRST CHANCELLOR/ SIR JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN'. Above the inscription are alternating bands of brick and stone, followed by the main brick stage of the tower.

Each face of the tower features three recessed arches that run the full height, containing paired windows at intervals. A band of stone sits below the clock faces on each side. Above the clocks, the design mimics the Torre del Mangia, with monumental stone corbels supporting stone parapets and the upper stages. These corbels have round arched heads. The uppermost stage is brick, with large arched openings indicating the bell chamber, topped by smaller stone corbelling supporting a pyramidal roof.

The tower's interior is largely open, with wooden stairs and platforms rising along steel beams. The original lift, with its panelled interior, remains functional, providing access to the higher levels. The eighth floor houses the clock, accessible for maintenance via hatches in the walls; the clock faces themselves are 5.2 metres in diameter. The original clock mechanism, by Joyce of Whitchurch, is still in place. Access to the parapet walk is from the tenth floor, and the bell chamber is located at the eleventh floor.