Queen's Tower

The Queen’s Tower stands in South Kensington on the Imperial College campus. It is a freestanding brick tower topped with a copper dome and reached by 325 spiral steps. Once the centrepiece of the Imperial Institute, it is now the only surviving fragment of that vast 19th-century building. The tower survives thanks to a campaign led by Poet Laureate John Betjeman. He argued that Victorian architecture should not be lost when tastes changed in the 1950s. Two stone lions from the original entrance still guard its base, while the Alexandra Peal bells inside ring for royal anniversaries and degree ceremonies. Visitors who reach the gallery below the dome look out over west London. On clear days the view stretches twenty miles, taking in the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall. The tower itself is closed for repairs, but its silhouette remains a landmark in the college grounds.