Collapse of The Building
Beckford's decidedly obsessive haste to erect the building as fast and as grandiosely as he could, coupled with the decision (ultimately pushed by Beckford), of reaching structurally unsound heights in the building's tower spire, and utilizing for this a method of building labeled "compo-cement" by Wyatt, which consisted in using timber stuccoed with cement, led to the eventual collapse of the tower—damaging the western wing of the building too—in 1825, when Beckford had already sold the building (for a good price of £275,000) to John Farquhar.
William Beckford died in 1844 in Bath, England.
Read more about this topic: Fonthill Abbey
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