The Water Tower is a building in

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is understood that the building was constructed as a

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

in the mid 18th Century by Joseph Lee of Warwick, described as Gentlemen and John Lamb of Warwick, Haberdasher. There is evidence of a sale in 1778 of the Mill as a going concern. The building continued to be used as a working windmill until 1854 when steam power was introduced. In 1885 the mill machinery was removed and the building converted into a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

. This involved the doubling of the height of the brickwork and surmounting it with a 26,000-gallon iron tank. This became the town's first Waterworks and provided most of Kenilworth's water supply until 1939. The supply from this tank was in fact in use for auxiliary purposes until approximately 1964. In 1970 Kenilworth Urban District Council, anxious to ensure the preservation of such an important and historic landmark, offered it for sale by tender on condition that it should be sympathetically restored and converted for use as a private dwelling house. Plans submitted by the Architect, Mr Edward Byron of

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, on behalf of Lt Col Michael Wheat, were accepted and a conversion was commenced in late 1972 and completed in 1974. This imaginative conversion incorporates a new ground floor extension cleverly designed to harmonise with the character. The tower and the whole now forms a unique and comfortable home successfully linking the past with the present. From the upper floors there are magnificent views over the ancient town of Kenilworth with its famous castle and the tower stands within a few hundred yards of the field known as Parliament Piece where it is reputed

Simon De Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

held the first English Parliament in 1264. In 1975 the property won an Architectural Heritage Award from the United Kingdom Council for European Architectural Heritage. The award was signed by Philip,

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

. A notable tale involving the windmill from the early 19th century is of a brave local, one Jerry O'Hea who showed his fortitude by grabbing a hold of one of the windmill sails. His arm got caught and he was carried round and round until the miller applied the brake. Previous residents include businessman Stephen Drucker known chiefly for his role in running the

Druckers Vienna Patisserie Drucker's Vienna Patisserie is a chain of pâtisseries in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Andre Drucker in 1964, for the purpose of introducing the people of his adopted city of Birmingham to the pâtisseries he had known when he was a you ...

chain, and Gordon Cain a historic buildings surveyor who worked as project manager for the St George's Bloomsbury's restoration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Water Tower, Kenilworth Towers completed in the 18th century Infrastructure completed in the 18th century Industrial buildings in England Kenilworth Water towers in the United Kingdom Houses in Warwickshire Windmills in Warwickshire