THE Compass Point storm tower relocation project has now reached week five of it’s 100 metre re-siting, with new pictures released by Bude-Stratton Town Council documenting the last time the tower’s view will be seen as it always was.

That’s because soon, the tower will be relocated 100 metres further in land, in order to protect the Grade II historic monument from the impact of coastal erosion.

If the tower was left in the location it has been since its construction in 1835, it would face a future where it could be vulnerable to the erosion of the coast it overlooks, for it sits on a friable sandstone and shale cliff which is averaging a 1.1 yard erosion a year but with the potential to lose 27 yards at any particular time.

The project is now in week five of the six-month £450,000 project, being undertaken by specialist contractors Sally Strachey Historic Conservation, funded with £249,362 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, £58,000 from crowdfunding efforts, £50,000 from Cornwall Council and £40,000 from Bude-Stratton Town Council.

It’s not the first time the tower has been relocated, having been subject to a small relocation from the cliff edge in 1881.

A spokesperson for Bude-Stratton Town Council said: “Work continues to progress on the roof removal which will accelerate in the next few weeks. The hole has been dug and the foundations are going down on the new site.

“Additional areas up on Compass Point have been barricaded off to protect the areas due to turf relocation, or to protect special species that are growing there.”