Purdown BT Tower
Purdown BT Tower is a tall telecommunications tower in Bristol, England. It is about 70 meters high and sits on Purdown hill in the Stoke Park area, around 2 miles north of the city centre. Built around 1970 for the British Telecom microwave network, it now helps transmit radio and provide mobile phone coverage.
The tower is a well-known Bristol landmark and can be seen from many parts of the city and from major roads like the M32. Bristol City Council lists it as a Valued Landmark, and it has appeared in local media, including the opening scene of Skins in 2008.
It is one of fourteen reinforced concrete towers owned by BT in the UK. A temporary steel lattice tower was built on the site in 1961 to start the microwave network, and the concrete tower was built between 1969 and 1971, based on an earlier design from the GPO and inspired by the Stokenchurch BT Tower.
As fibre optic networks replaced microwave links, many dishes were removed in 2008. BT still owns the tower, and parts of it are leased to other companies for broadcast and mobile infrastructure. Arqiva uses the tower to broadcast BBC and other radio on FM and DAB to Bristol.
The tower has appeared in culture, including the finale of BBC Three’s Thirteen (2016) and in Billy Nomates’s video for “Heels,” where she dances with the tower in the background.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:24 (CET).