Telecom Tower

BT Tower and other London landmarks

The grade II listed tower is a conspicuous landmark of London and it is situated
on Cleveland Street.
It seems incredible that this 620 ft (189 m) tower should ever have been classed an official secret - no Ordnance Survey maps showed it until the middle of the 1990's, and strictly speaking it was an offence under the Official Secrets Act to take or possess photographs of the tower.

BT Tower or Telecom Tower shining in the night.

It was the first to be built specifically for the transmission of high-frequency radio-waves, and still transmits broadcast, internet and telephone information. For 16 years this was London's tallest building. When it opened in 1965, it was known as the Post Office tower, and 1.5 million people came to see it during that first year.



Subsequently renamed the BT Tower or The Telecom Tower, its circular shape reduces wind resistance, and was intended to survive the blast wave from a nuclear bomb. The top floors were designed as observation galleries, but were closed to the public after a bomb exploded in 1971.
The slowly revolving restaurant closed nine years later, although it is occasionally hired for entertaining.