Historic tower and museum reopens after revamp

Carillon Tower was built in 1923 to commemorate Loughborough's fallen soldiers

A historic landmark and museum in Loughborough has reopened after undergoing £110,000 of improvements.

The 102-year-old structure in Queen's Park, which is home to a military museum and serves as a memorial to the town's war dead, closed in September 2023 for the revamp.

Improvements include new displays telling the story of World War One, the history of the Carillon Tower and paying tribute to those from Leicestershire who served in the armed forces.

There are also new information boards and war time letters, medals and uniforms on display.

The Grade II listed 150ft-high building was built in 1923 to commemorate Loughborough's fallen soldiers.

Today, it carries the names of 800 men who died in both world wars and other conflicts, and has a total of 47 bells in the tower.

The tower has a memorial to service personnel who lost their lives in conflict since World War One

The war memorial is open to the public between Wednesday and Saturday, with Carillon recitals taking place on Thursdays and Sundays.

Mel Gould, chairman of the Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum volunteer group, said: "To open the doors to the museum once again is a proud moment.

"Lots of hard work has gone into the stories, displays and information that is available to view by visitors.

"The funding was vital in being able to modernise the ways of presenting artefacts and information at the museum."

Anne Gray, Charnwood Borough Council's lead member for open spaces, added: "It is so important that we pay tribute to those who fought in conflicts and made the ultimate sacrifice and the improvements to the museum certainly do that."

In April last year, the council announced it would scale back its plans and restrict public access to the top of the tower due to modern fire safety standards.

Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum, a volunteer group, said that would leave a "stream of disappointment" with visitors.

The project was funded using a share of £4m granted to the council from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.