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The charity that looks after the Tower of London has said it is getting more and more concerned about the number of high-rise buildings being planned for the City of London鈥檚 Leadenhall area 鈥� with the site鈥檚 World Heritage status increasingly under threat.

The so-called Eastern cluster is already home to Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners鈥� Cheesegrater along with Foster鈥檚 Gherkin building while KPF鈥檚 Heron Tower is a stone鈥檚 throw away at 110 Bishopsgate.

Towers being planned for the area include Eric Parry鈥檚 310m tall 1 Undershaft tower 鈥� which will be the City鈥檚 tallest when built 鈥�  PLP鈥檚 62-storey scheme at 22 Bishopsgate and a brace of Make schemes at 40 Leadenhall 鈥� dubbed Gotham City 鈥� and a second at 1 Leadenhall Street which will see a 37-storey tower built.

But Historic Royal Palaces, which has responsibility for five royal palaces in the capital, has said the glut of towers will end up blighting views of the Tower of London.

In a letter commenting on Make鈥檚 plans for 1 Leadenhall Streetsent and sent to planners at the City of London, the organisation said it was now getting 鈥渆xtremely alarmed鈥� over the amount slated for construction.

鈥淸Our] principal concern regarding tall buildings in the vicinity of the Tower of London World Heritage Site is their potential visual impact on the wider setting of the WHS and, particularly, on protected views of the Tower.

鈥淗istoric Royal Palaces is extremely alarmed by the steady build-up in both density and height of the Eastern Quarter to which the proposed development at 1 Leadenhall Street would contribute.

鈥淒espite the distance between the WHS (World Heritage Site [The Tower of London]) and the Cluster, the latter is becoming visually dominant in the iconic views of the Tower from the Queen鈥檚 Walk and Tower bridge and posing a serious threat to a key attribute of the 鈥極utstanding  Universal Value鈥� of the WHS, a matter of considerable concern to us.鈥�

The letter was sent on behalf of the charity by heritage consultant Drury McPherson.