Garrison Tower

Garrison Tower is a circular, three-storey tower originally built as a windmill in the 17th century. It's located within The Garrison on the island of St. Mary's, in the Isles of Scilly.

The building is constructed of roughly coursed granite and is approximately four metres in diameter and twelve metres tall. It features granite lintels over the doorways and windows. A stone staircase with a metal balustrade leads to the ground floor doorway, along with a low, square rubble stone structure attached to the staircase. Seven windows on the second floor mark the location of a 19th-century observation room, from which a doorway provides access to a metal balcony. Slit openings at the lower level are believed to be later additions. The tower is topped by a stone parapet with a single embrasure, to which a flagstaff is fixed. A downpipe, with hopper, is visible on one side of the tower, penetrating the parapet band.

The windmill was likely erected in the early 17th century, and by 1750 it, along with a now-demolished companion windmill, had fallen into disrepair. Following 1831, the tower was temporarily occupied by the Coastguard and later, around 1869, was acquired by Shipping Gazette as a lookout for observing shipping movements. Lloyds of London subsequently took over the building in 1871, purchasing it in 1882. The building now serves as holiday accommodation.

Garrison Tower is designated at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance. It is considered an interesting example of a pre-1700 windmill that was converted into a 19th-century signal station and a distinctive early windmill tower representing an adapted structure used in the competitive 19th-century shipping industry.