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The Frome Black Swan Arts Round Tower is a restored medieval stone building formerly used for drying out dyed cloth.  Built in the late 1700’s to dry wool after it had been scoured to remove lanolin. Frome was a rich wool cloth weaving town at that time. The earliest reference to the name Black Swan is that of a pub on a map from 1774.  In 1699 the site is listed as belonging to Robert Smith. Smith was an entrepreneur in the woollen cloth trade. The ‘Round Tower’ was built in the mid-18th century.  The Black Swan Inn was de-licensed in 1960 following five years of closure. Acquired by Frome Urban District Council, it was extra space for the market. The buildings used as an office and the café yard as a space to sell small animals.  Under threat of demolition in the early 1980’s, a small group, raised funds to repair The Black Swan. With the intention to open it as an Arts Centre providing affordable studios where artists could work and sell direct to the public.

Black Swan Arts opened to the public in 1986. In 2021, it celebrates its 35th Anniversary.