Swingate Water Tower including paired flight of steps and balustrading

Summary

A water tower, designed by Ritchie and Partners for the Corporation of Nottingham Water Department, in neo-classical style, constructed in the later 1940s and commissioned in 1950.

Reasons for Designation

Swingate Water Tower, constructed in the late 1940s and opened in 1950, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the building is unusually architectural for a reinforced concrete water tower, and is designed with pleasing proportions in a striking neo-Georgian style;
* the use of artificial stone to create classically-inspired decorative elements elegantly articulates the expansive wall surfaces of the tower and shaft, and paired with the stylish flights of steps which are integrated with the tower at its base, the water tower forms an unusually architecturally-refined ensemble which goes far beyond what would be necessary merely for utility;
* this is in contrast with most post-war water towers, which were generally utilitarian structures of reinforced concrete, designed principally with practical considerations in mind.

Historic interest:

* as an expression of civic pride by the Corporation of Nottingham, which was responsible for the creation of the water tower and the reservoir with which it is associated, and whose arms are mounted on the tower.

History

Swingate Water Tower was constructed in the immediate post-war period, alongside a large, new covered reservoir, to provide a more reliable supply of drinking water for Nottingham. An existing reservoir at Watnall began to fail from the 1920s, and plans were made to construct a new waterworks to bring in water from the Derwent Valley, treat it and supply it to the city. The works had been mooted from 1938, and parliamentary approval for the scheme given in 1941, but the development was put off until after the end of the Second World War. The land for the new waterworks was purchased at a cost of £1,786. Construction of the reservoir and water tower began in about 1947, but were not completed until 1950. The engineers were Ritchie and Partners, well known as designers of water towers, who had patented a reinforcement system known as ‘reinforced steelwork’ for water towers, with a steel core structure carrying the weight of the tank above, and a curtain wall surrounding. The contractors Tarmac Ltd. There were some challenges on the site, not least the proximity of colliery workings, but the stability of the water tower was ensured by an agreement to retain a ‘pillar’ of untouched coal in the coal measures directly below the tower, at an additional cost of £1,623.

The reservoir was built with a capacity of 4,000,000 gallons, and the water tower was topped with a tank capable of holding 80,000 gallons. The development was officially inaugurated on 11 January 1950, in a ceremony lead by the Lord Mayor, and was immediately successful in improving water pressure and evening out fluctuations in supply for Broxtowe, Bilborough and Strelley, suburbs on the outskirts of Nottingham.

The water tower was decommissioned and out of use by 2022.

Details

A water tower, designed by Ritchie and Partners for the Corporation of Nottingham Water Department, in neo-classical style, constructed in the later 1940s and commissioned in 1950.

MATERIALS: textured reinforced concrete, on a steel frame, with artificial stone details.

PLAN: square plan, the water tank measuring 30ft by 30ft.

EXTERIOR:a solid-sided water tower, in a neoclassical style. At ground level, set into the bank of the reservoir to its rear, the foot of the tower forms a plinth, with a cyma recta moulding narrowing to the body of the access tower. Within the plinth, a wide central entrance doorway, with a plain moulded surround, is flanked by windows. The moulding breaks upwards above the door, to a canopy on brackets which also forms a cill to the window above. Set into this upward extension of the plinth is a relief of the arms of the City of Nottingham. The access tower rises with straight sides, a curtain wall surrounding the internal steel structure. To each side is a narrow, tall window opening, housing metal-framed, multi-paned windows. The heads of the windows are articulated with classically-inspired, applied reconstituted stone swags with drops to either side of the windows. Above the windows, the water tank is corbelled out on all sides, the junction between the tower and the tank marked by a cornice of reconstituted stone, with dentil motifs. Further detailing is cast into the concrete at the top of the tank. The sides rise as a parapet above the top of the covered tank. The central access rises as a square box with double doors above the surface of the top of the tank.

INTERIOR: the interior of the shaft is empty apart from an access staircase and the internal structure, of steel.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
The water tower is flanked by paired flights of STEPS, which rise through the height of the bank of the reservoir. The steps have moulded treads with noses, and rise between solid balustrades, the inner side hugging the foot of the tower and terminating in broad, circular piers with narrower caps. The outer balustrades follow the flight of steps and then scroll inwards, clasping and defining the forecourt of the water tower, and scrolling back out to terminate in piers which are a larger version of those to the inner balustrade.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 9 February 2023 to amend the name

Sources

Other
New reservoir for Nottingham, Nottingham Evening Post, 6 January 1950
Swingate Reservoir Inauguration Ceremony, Nottingham Evening Post, 11 January 1950
Gould, MH and Cleland DJ: Development of design form of reinforced concrete water towers, in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Structures and Buildings 146. Issue 1, February 2001, pp 3-16

End of official list entry