Tower Hill Water Tower is a disused

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

and local landmark in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England. Situated on the east side of Tower Hill, it was built between 1853-4 for Ormskirk Local Board of Health, and is reputed to be the oldest remaining water tower in the country. It was awarded Grade II* listed status in 1976, and is on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

. The area immediately surrounding the tower has been used as allotments since the mid 20th century.

Structure

The tower is built in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, constructed of coursed, squared

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, and arranged in a square plan. On each side are two narrow full-height Romanesque arches, all with stepped surrounds and arch-bands, and linked by an impost band. Above the arches is a plain

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

with carved

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

s at the corners, topped with

machicolated A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...

corbelling. The stone is a pale red and mottled form of Ormskirk Sandstone, probably extracted from nearby Ruff Wood. In its present state, the tower stands at a height of approximately . Originally, the stonework was surmounted by a metal water tank with a pitched slate-covered roof, which added an extra to the height of the structure. Due to its poor condition, the tank was removed in the early 1990s.

Proposed developments

Planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

was granted in 1988 for the conversion of the tower into a single dwelling, though the scheme was never implemented. Subsequent applications to convert the tower into offices or an apartment block were either refused or withdrawn. A more recent application for conversion into seven apartments was made in 2004, though this has also been rejected, and an appeal against the decision was dismissed in April 2008. Development of the site has met with opposition from local residents, and local

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Adrian Owens was amongst critics of the most recent application.

References

External links

* {{Buildings and structures in West Lancashire Ormskirk Infrastructure completed in 1854 Towers completed in 1854 Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire Romanesque Revival architecture in England Water towers in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in the Borough of West Lancashire Towers in Lancashire

Structure

Proposed developments

See also

References

External links