Protected status for water tower
LANDMARK ADDED TO HISTORIC ENGLAND’S NATIONAL HERITAGE LIST
A water tower near Dewsbury is among more than 400 structures and properties to enjoy new enhanced protection from demolition or redevelopment.
Gawthorpe Water Tower is on a country road between Dewsbury and Ossett and has been added to Historic England’s National Heritage List for England during 2020.
The 1920s built concrete tower was granted Grade 2 listed status on December 4.
It achieved listed status as “it is an important physical reminder of the significant advancements in health and sanitation made in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century, and developments in public water supply provision,” Historic England says.
Its listing says: “Before the 1870s there was no public water supply in Ossett and private wells were inadequate and heavily polluted.
In the 1870s the Local Board of Health proposed a piped water supply, the provision of drainage, and a sewage works. Water was initially brought from Batley and stored in a covered reservoir constructed at Gawthorpe in 1876.
An Act of Parliament in 1922 enabled the provision of a new water supply and the former Pildacre Colliery was selected as the site for a waterworks.
“In 1910 the colliery suffered a devastating flood and closed, and it was this floodwater that became Ossett’s new water source.
“Pildacre Waterworks was constructed between 1922 and 1928 at a cost of £48,667, and was opened on 25 February 1928. During the same period Gawthorpe Water
Tower was constructed approximately 1.25 miles away to the north, adjacent to the covered Gawthorpe Reservoir off Chidswell Lane.”
Gawthorpe Water Tower ceased active use for water storage in around 2006, but it remains in use in 2020 as a host for telecommunications equipment.
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said: “Every year, Historic England works to protect the most significant historic sites across the country.
“Despite the challenges that the heritage sector has faced this year, 2020 has seen many brilliant additions to the List.
“From a picturesque footbridge in Essex to a Victorian railway station cafe in the Midlands, we want to ensure England’s rich and varied cultural heritage is protected so the public can continue to cherish it.”