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From the Promenade with the sea at your back, the Tower reads as one shape: a red steel lattice standing on a three-storey red-brick block. Get closer and it stops being one thing. The lattice rises out of that block, and the block is full: a ballroom on the ground floor, a circus ring set between the tower's four legs, and a dungeon in the space an aquarium used to fill. It has stood there since 1894. The lift and the view are the postcard image, but they are only one part of what is inside.
We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, have put together this guide to the Blackpool Tower. It answers the questions people actually type: how tall it is, when it was built, what happened in the fires, and what each of the attractions inside is like.
The Blackpool Tower is 518 feet 9 inches tall, measured from the ground to the flagpole at the summit. In metres that is 158.12, usually rounded to 158. Short descriptions give it as 518 feet, or 158 metres, and both are the same measurement rounded differently.
The number that causes trouble is 380 feet. That is not the Tower. It is the observation deck near the top, which sits at 380 feet (about 116 metres) above the ground. Whichever figure you meet, it describes the floor you stand on, not the structure you stand in.
So there are two correct answers measuring two different things: the building is 518 feet 9 inches, and the observation deck is at 380 feet, described as the highest observation deck in North West England.
When it opened, the Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the British Empire. Its design was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and early plans put its height at just 450 feet. A few more numbers give the scale: maintenance teams reach the top by 563 steps from the roof of the building, and if the wind passes 45 mph the top closes as a safety precaution, while at 70 mph it sways by an inch.
The idea came out of a family holiday. John Bickerstaffe, a Blackpool hotelier and town councillor made Mayor in 1889, took his family to Paris and fell in love with Gustave Eiffel's tower. The Blackpool Tower Company was founded in 1890 and bought William Cocker's aquarium on Central Promenade, intending to build a replica Eiffel Tower on the site. Bickerstaffe, by then a former mayor, was asked to chair it, and shares went on sale in July 1891.
The architects were James Maxwell and Charles Tuke, described as Lancashire architects and elsewhere as a Bury firm. Construction began in 1891, when a foundation stone was laid with a time capsule beneath it, and neither man lived to see the building open. Heenan and Froude, then of Manchester, were the structural engineers.
Five million Accrington bricks went into the tower and base, with 3,478 long tons of steel and 352 long tons of cast iron; an older local account gives 2,500 tons of steel, so that figure is not agreed. The cost was about £290,000, raised from the cotton barons of Burnley, Blackburn and Preston.
The Tower opened on 14 May 1894, and 3,000 people rode to the top on the first day. Admission was sixpence, the lift sixpence more, the circus a further sixpence, and that entry sixpence also bought a zoo with big cats, a monkey house and aviary, a refreshment bar and roof gardens. It passed its 130th birthday in 2024. In 1973 the Tower Buildings, the red-brick complex of tower, Circus, Ballroom and roof gardens, were designated a Grade I listed building.
Ownership has moved often: the Bickerstaffe family until 1964, then EMI, Trust House Forte, First Leisure and Leisure Parcs. Blackpool Council bought the Tower in March 2010 and Merlin Entertainments managed it. In 2025 it was announced that the Council would take the Tower over from Merlin from that August, running it through a new company, Blackpool Tourism Ltd.
Three separate events sit behind those searches, decades apart. Taking them in order stops the rumours compounding.
The first is the one people mean. In 1897 the top of the Tower caught fire, and the burning platform was seen from up to 50 miles away. The structure survived. Its other near-death experience was slower: it was not painted properly in its first thirty years and corroded so badly that demolition was discussed, and every piece of steelwork was replaced between 1920 and 1924. Painting it still takes seven years.
The second was not the tower at all but the Ballroom. In December 1956 fire destroyed the dance floor and the restaurant underneath it. Restoration took two years and cost £500,000, several of the original designers and builders coming out of retirement to help, and the restaurant below reopened as the Tower Lounge. The fire is thought to have been caused by a discarded cigarette.
The third is why the question keeps returning in its "is it on fire right now" form. On 28 December 2023, at around 14:15, flames were reported close to the top. Lancashire Fire and Rescue responded with six fire engines, a drone team and rope rescue, supported by a National Police Air Service helicopter. By about 16:30 the same day it was revealed that the flames were orange netting blowing in the wind.
Two dates get merged here, including by the Tower's own history page, which dates the Ballroom to 1894. Both are real, but they belong to two different rooms. The original ballroom, the Tower Pavilion, opened in August 1894, smaller than the present one and occupying the front of the complex.
The room you walk into today is later and larger. The Tower Ballroom was built between 1897 and 1898 to designs by Frank Matcham and opened in 1899, commissioned in response to the opening of the Empress Ballroom in the Winter Gardens. So: the Tower is 1894, the present Ballroom is 1899.
The floor is the reason people come. It is sprung, measures 120 feet by 102 feet, or 37 metres by 31 metres, and is usually given as 30,602 blocks of mahogany, oak and walnut. It sits on the ground floor of the building. Above the stage runs the inscription "Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear", from Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis.
The room glitters with gold leaf, chandeliers and lavish murals. Each crystal chandelier can be lowered all the way to the floor to be cleaned, which takes over a week. The Ballroom is covered by the Grade I listing given to the Tower Buildings complex in 1973.
The organ is the other half of the room. The first Wurlitzer was installed in 1929 and replaced in 1935 by one designed by Reginald Dixon, resident organist from 1930 until his retirement in 1970 and known worldwide as "Mr. Blackpool". Phil Kelsall, playing at the Tower since 1975, has been resident since 1977. The BBC series Come Dancing was broadcast from here for years, and the Ballroom has hosted Strictly Come Dancing grand finals on 11 December 2004 and 17 December 2011.
You can dance on it yourself: general admission lets you take a turn on the floor or sit and watch while the resident organists perform. Dancing was originally banned on Sundays, when sacred music was played instead.
Afternoon tea here is served in the Ballroom itself, with live music from the organists and the Wurlitzer. More than 45,000 afternoon teas are served in the Ballroom each year.
The package for two is bookable at £60.00. It includes sandwiches, cream scones with clotted cream and jam, and a choice of cake from the daily selection, served with tea or coffee. Packages that bundle all-day admission start from £30 per person.
The detail worth knowing before you book is the timing. Tables are booked for 90 minutes, though guests are welcome to stay on in the Ballroom afterwards. The table is not the whole visit; you can eat, then go and watch, or dance.
If you only want the room and not the tea, Ballroom standard entry starts from £9.63 per adult and pre-booking is essential. That ticket carries the best-value line on the whole price list: up to four children aged 3 to 14 go free with every adult.
The Circus arena sits at the base of the Tower, directly under and between its four legs. It opened on 14 May 1894, the same day as the rest of the building, admission from sixpence, and it has not missed a season since, running through both world wars; Covid delayed the 2020 and 2021 seasons but the run held. It is described as the oldest permanent circus arena still in use anywhere.
The interior is not the original. Maxwell and Tuke built the arena and it opened sparsely decorated, advertised as an aquatic and variety circus because of the sinking ring. Frank Matcham redesigned it between late 1899 and early 1900, basing the design on the real Alhambra in Granada.
The ring is the trick everyone remembers. The hydraulic floor lowers by 1.37 metres, or 4 feet 6 inches, and the published figure is 42,000 imperial gallons, 190,000 litres, of water filling it in under a minute for the water finale. The arena is described as one of only four in the world that can do this. It seats 1,350, fewer than the original 1,500 after accessibility adaptations.
The circus nearly ended. In May 1990 the owners, First Leisure, announced they wanted to close it for an animatronic attraction, and on 3 November 1990 it ceased. Protests made them backtrack, and from 1992 an animal-free circus was contracted to Tip Top Entertainments, run by the Hungarian circus manager Laci Endresz Sr; the Endresz family has produced it since. Animals had appeared until 1990, and their pens still exist, unused, unremovable because of the building's listed status.
The clowns are the continuity, nicknamed the "Clown Princes" of Blackpool. Charlie Cairoli is the most famous, though published accounts of his tenure disagree, giving 39 years in one place and 40 in another. The role of Mooky passed to Laci Endresz Jr during 1998, and he has been resident clown since the 1999 season. His brother Bubu rejoined the clown act in 2008 as Mr Boo.
Before you book: since 2023 the show has run one production a year from early February until early November. Shows currently last two hours with an interval, with up to three a day. It features lasers and strobe lighting, which may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy and sensory processing disorders. Standard tickets are £11.81 per child and £14.88 per adult.
Start with the name, because the change is recent and older listings still use the previous one. The deck at the top is currently called the Blackpool Tower Top. It became the Blackpool Tower Eye in 2011, when Merlin Entertainments brought the Tower into its range of "Eye" branded attractions, but has since returned to the Tower Top name. Blackpool Tourism Ltd took over management of the Tower from Merlin in August 2025, although the exact timing of the return to the Tower Top name is not clearly documented. If you booked a Tower Eye ticket, you are going to the same place.
The deck sits at 380 feet, about 116 metres. There are four levels at the top accessible to visitors, and the deck holds a bar, listed by the operator as Bar380, as well as the Skywalk glass floor.
Entry is preceded by a 4D cinema showing a Blackpool-themed film made in 2011, and the lift ride to the top takes about a minute. The glass floor is the part people brace for: it is 5 centimetres thick and has been tested to withstand loads of up to 5 tonnes.
On a clear day the view reaches Liverpool, the Lake District and the Isle of Man, with the Irish Sea and the promenade below. The catch is weather: if the wind passes 45 mph the top closes, and in the event of a weather-related closure your ticket is validated for 12 months rather than refunded. Prices vary by date and ticket type, and booking online in advance is recommended; entry includes the 4D cinema.
The Dungeon opened in 2011, franchised from Merlin Entertainments, and it occupies the space where the Tower aquarium had been until the aquarium closed in 2010. It combines history with fear and shows built on gallows humour, and the franchise arrangement with Merlin has continued through the 2025 change of operator.
It is a walk-through with a full cast of live actors, sets and special effects, with the Tower currently advising an approximate runtime of 50 minutes, 9 shows and a drop ride, covering 1,000 years of British history. Themed areas include a Dark Chapel with a monk telling tales of the Fylde Coast and Lytham Priory, and the torture chamber of Lancaster Castle; the characters include the Pendle Witches and smugglers. It ends with "Drop Dead", a 26-foot drop tower that simulates being executed by hanging.
On age: the Tower recommends the Dungeon for children aged 8 and over, at a parent or guardian’s discretion. The live actors, dark spaces, loud noises, jump scares and drop ride make it better suited to older children. Adult tickets may be cheaper when booked in advance than when bought on the day, especially at peak times.
The operator says the Tower houses five attractions; in practice, the building’s line-up can be counted as six attractions, namely the Tower Top, the Ballroom, the Circus, the Dungeon, the Fifth Floor entertainment suite and Dino Mini Golf, which is on Level 7 with nine holes. Heritage Tours run through the building in small groups on selected days.
Much of what used to be here is gone. William Cocker's Aquarium, Aviary and Menagerie had stood on the site since 1873 and was kept open to earn revenue while the Tower went up around it. The menagerie closed in 1973 when Blackpool Zoo opened near Stanley Park, and the aquarium closed in 2010.
The ghost stories are folklore rather than record, and they cluster in two rooms. The Ballroom is said to be the most haunted area, with an elderly gentleman and a little girl in Victorian dress reported in the balcony over the stage; the Circus is said to have a Victorian lady, in bonnet and with a fan, by the orchestra area.
The Tower has one more job, and an old one: it is a visual reporting point for general aviation aircraft in the local Blackpool airspace, known there as "the tall tower". On 22 December 1894 the Norwegian ship Abana mistook it for a lighthouse in a storm and was wrecked at Little Bispham, where she can still be seen at low tide.
The Tower is sold as separate attractions rather than as a single visit, so the useful question is how long each part takes. Here is what the published figures say.
The Circus is the one part with fixed show times, so build the day around its start time.
Ticket structure follows the same logic. The Tower Top and the Dungeon booked together online start from £22.75 per adult aged 15 and over, against £30.00 bought separately, and the second attraction can be used within 90 days of the first. The Tower Top, the Dungeon and Madame Tussauds together are £31.50 online against £45.00 separately.
The wider resort tickets are where the operator's own figures fall out of step. The Ultimate Ticket, covering the Tower, Pleasure Beach Resort, Sandcastle Waterpark and Madame Tussauds, appears as £56.66 per person on one page of its site and as £56.88, reduced from £65, on another. Read it as roughly £57 and check at the point of booking.
The Tower's address is Promenade, Blackpool FY1 4BJ. It stands at roughly the midpoint of Blackpool Promenade, on the inland side, near Central Pier and opposite the Comedy Carpet, with Church Street and the northern end of Central Drive alongside it. Looking at it from outside costs nothing; only entry to the attractions carries a fee.
On parking we are not going to list car parks and prices: they change by season and by operator, and a stale figure is worse than none. Check charges for the day you travel.
Opening times need the same caution, because the Tower's parts keep different hours. The Circus season, since 2023, runs from early February until early November. The Tower publishes a live attraction-by-attraction calendar: hours vary by attraction and by date, so check them for the day you are going before you set off.
Two rules are firmer than the hours. Ballroom entry requires pre-booking. And the Tower Top is weather permitting: if it closes for weather your ticket is validated for 12 months and refunds are not available, so a windy forecast is a reason to reorder the day rather than cancel it.
If you are working out where to base yourself, the Tower's position in the middle of the Promenade makes the seafront the obvious anchor, and you can compare stays in Blackpool by the categories that matter to you.
The Tower is one stop on a seafront with a great deal else on it, from the three piers to the Illuminations. For the rest, see our fuller guide to things to do in Blackpool.