Norton Water Tower

Norton Water Tower

233 feet (71 m)

Norton Water Tower
Location Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire, England
Coordinates 53°19′46″N 2°40′17″W / 53.3295°N 2.6714°W / 53.3295; -2.6714Coordinates: 53°19′46″N 2°40′17″W / 53.3295°N 2.6714°W / 53.3295; -2.6714
OS grid reference SJ 553 816
Built 1892
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated 31 October 1983
Reference no. 1335884
Location in Cheshire

Norton Water Tower is a water tower in Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[1]

History

It was built between 1888 and 1892 on the water pipeline between Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales and Liverpool to act as a balancing reservoir in the process of supplying water to Runcorn and Liverpool. Water is carried to Liverpool through a tunnel 10 feet (3 m) wide under the River Mersey.[2] It is the largest UK tromboned pressure relief device currently in operation. The tower was designed by George F. Deacon, the Chief Engineer of the Liverpool Corporation Waterworks Department.[3]

Description

It is built in red sandstone in the shape of a cylinder 99 feet (30 m) high with a diameter of 82 feet (25 m). On its top is a cast iron tank with a capacity of 650,000 gallons.[3] Ten pilasters rise from a rock-faced base and between them are round-headed arches. Above these is a frieze with a Latin inscription and over this is a cornice. On the top is the iron tank with a decorated exterior.[1] Translated, the inscription on the frieze reads:

This water, derived from the sources of the Severn, is brought to the City of Liverpool, a distance of eighty miles, through the mountains and over the plains of Wales and the intervening country, at the cost of the municipality, in the year of Our Lord 1892.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Norton Water Tower, Runcorn (1335884)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 Starkey, H. F. (1990), Old Runcorn, Halton Borough Council, p. 162
  3. 1 2 Ritchie, J. O. C. (1957), "Water Towers", The Structural Engineer: 2, retrieved 2009-01-01
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