Chinese Bell Tower, Nottingham Travel Guide

The Chinese Bell Tower is an octagonal cupola with a swept spire, supported on columns and set on a raised pink-sandstone platform. Four cannons rest at the corners. Designed by borough engineer Marriott Ogle Tarbotton and completed in 1862, the structure was conceived as a memorial to the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot and its service in the Crimean War and the Second Opium War.Two of the cannons were taken at Sevastopol; the others are later replacements. A temple bell looted near Canton was originally hung inside the cupola. The bell was removed in the 1950s and is now held by a regimental museum in Preston. A replica hung here until it was stolen in February 2025. The listed structure and cannons remain.

The tower occupies a raised area on the south side of Nottingham Arboretum, east of the rose garden and above the main east–west path. A clipped conifer hedge encloses the platform, while lawns and small conifers surround it. Inscriptions in English, Chinese and Russian appear on the base and frieze, though some have weathered. The garden is quieter than the lake and café end of the park, offering a calm vantage point among trees.

Nottingham Arboretum opened in 1852 as the city’s first public park. The tower was added a decade later to display the captured cannons and the Canton bell. Contemporary letters already questioned the bell’s presence. The pagoda was partly rebuilt after the original bell’s removal. It received Grade II listing in 1972; the surrounding park is Grade II* registered.

Walkers reach the Bell Garden from any of the park’s four pedestrian entrances. The approach from the southern path involves a moderate climb. The monument is viewed from the surrounding lawn and platform edge; there is no interior space open to visitors. Typical time spent here is 10–20 minutes as part of a longer park circuit that may include the bandstand, aviaries and lake.The site is free. No booking or ticket is required. The park is gated and closes at dusk; winter closing times can be as early as 16:30. Public transport by tram along Waverley Street places visitors within a short walk of the southern entrance.