Smeaton's Tower

Smeaton's Tower is a Grade I listed structure located on The Hoe in Plymouth. Originally built in 1759 by John Smeaton as the Eddystone Lighthouse, the upper part of the lighthouse was moved to its current location in 1882 and placed on a new base. The tower is circular and tapered, constructed from painted granite ashlar, and features an octagonal lantern with glazing bars and an ogee-shaped roof topped with a ball finial and weather vane. The tower has small four-pane windows. When it was first constructed, the lighthouse was recognized as a significant technical achievement.

Historically, Smeaton's Tower is notable for its connection to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. In 1913, a homemade bomb associated with the suffragette movement was discovered at the entrance to the tower. The device, which was intended to explode, failed to ignite, and messages such as 'Votes for women' and 'death in ten minutes' were painted on its exterior. This incident was part of a series of attacks carried out by the WSPU during that period, possibly linked to Pankhurst's recent arrest in Plymouth after a speaking tour in the USA. The listing was updated in 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.