Monkton Arts is open 10.30am - 4pm. TUES -FRI 11am-7pm SAT and 11am 3pm SUN apart from advertised events

ABOUT APPLEY TOWER

Short History

Appley Tower, a picturesque 19th-century folly located in Ryde, Isle of Wight, was directed to be built by Sir William Hutt, a prominent Victorian-era politician. Erected around 1875 on the Appley Towers estate, the tower showcases the distinctive Gothic Revival architectural style of its time, featuring coursed rubble construction, ashlar dressings, and a crenelated parapet.
Achieving Grade II listed status in 1972, the tower stands as a historical testament to the era and Sir William Hutt's influence, serving as a cherished landmark and cultural asset within the community.

Recent History

In 2018, Cllr. Michael Lilley set out to secure the tower for community use. Michael asked Natural Enterprise to conduct a public consultation and feasibility study which was launched in 2019. A successful National Lottery Heritage grant was secured to carry out the building work at the Tower, which was completed by Stoneham's in 2024.
Monkton Arts opened in 2019 with an exhibition entitled 'Everyone's interpretations of Appley Tower'. It was the same week Natural Enterprise released their feasibility study. During the exhibition we recorded everyone's thoughts, memories and opinions of the tower, as well as ideas for future use, and used this information to come up with a financially sustainable plan to ensure the tower was available for the whole community.
We submitted this to Natural Enterprise's Appley Tower Public Consultation, and have forged a strong working partnership with them ever since, helping to strengthen the Heritage Lottery fund application by providing a sustainable community plan for the future upkeep of this iconic public asset.

Working in partnership with communities

Natural Enterprise 18 month community outreach project

As part of the funding from the lottery heritage fund, Natural Enterprise are delivering an 18 month community outreach heritage project.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE

University of Portsmouth, School of Architecture, student projects 2023

Students from the School of Architecture, University of Portsmouth, have explored various responses to Appley Tower, centred around the neo-mythology of "The Monkton Merman".

Senior Lecturer, Milena Metalkova-Markova, helped to inspire her undergraduate Architects to think carefully about themes of sustainability, public engagement, resonant aesthetic and accessible and inclusive design principles.

"This Live Project opportunity has been an absolute joy for our students - just visiting Ryde has had lots of hidden benefits for our students as it is such a beautiful hidden gem, and there's so much heritage, culture and aspects of ecological significance to enable a richer, deeper and even more authentic Architectural Design learning experience for our students." Milena, UoP

Students had the opportunity to showcase their work in a public gallery, where the local councillors and over 500 members of the public had the opportunity to reflect on these 'architectural provocations'.

University of Portsmouth Heritage Hub visit

The University of Portsmouth's Heritage Hub bring researchers and professionals together from across the country to tackle key issues in heritage and conversation.

We were thrilled to host the Co-Chair of the hub, Dr Tarek Teba, and his colleague, Milena Metalkova-Markova at the tower and are excited to explore potential mutual-gain, cross-solent opportunities in the future, including:

Student Experience Days
Residential Visits
Live Project investigations
Creative Outputs and Public 'Provocations'
Courses
Guest Lectures
Public Engagement activities using cutting-edge technology such as CCIXR (eXtended Reality), and gamification.

Appley Day

Appley Day is an annual event which welcomes all community members to celebrate the wonderful biodiversity, culture and heritage of Appley Park and the Tower. In 2023, we hosted a Sandcastle competition alongside various other events being curated by Friends of Appley, New Carnival Company and Natural Enterprise.

Email: abi@goodleaf.co.uk

Monkton Merman

Jenna from Monkton Arts was lucky enough to be asked by New Carnival Company to be the community artist for Ryde Academy for the creative Biosphere Project.

Follow the link below to read the story of the Monkton Merman written by Jenna Sabine and features Appley Tower as a focal point in this modern folk law. It is also being used for further engagement with the tower by Portsmouth University Students.

"The Monkton Merman"

For further information about the Creative Biosphere Project click the link below

Ryde Academy Creative Biosphere Project

Appley Tower Open Days

Over the past 5 years we have been involved in various open days to consult with the public and inform people of the plans and developments.

Sirius Memorial Day

Ticket to ryde - entertainment at the tower

During the summer of 2020 with lockdown still having a hold over us, we organised outdoor events around Ryde with the Tower being one of 5 venues.

Each weekend of August there was a programme of opera, folk and gypsy jazz music, as well as storytelling, yoga on the beach, and market stalls.

Ryde Society Carnival Entry

Back in August 2019 we joined Ryde Society in helping to make and organise carnival costumes which were designed to raise awareness of the buildings in Ryde. The community seemed highly concerned about saving the tower for our future generations.

We worked with local schools to produce pictures of these buildings as well as the people who meant the most to them; and with the help of the renowned costume designer, Diana Moseley, we turned their drawings into 8 foot Community Solidarity Carnival Costumes to parade in Ryde Carnival Procession. Appley Tower was obviously one such building!

Happily aPPLEY birthday year - 2025 - 150 years old

MORE DETAILS COMING SOON

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