Building record 5672 - The Water Tower, Quarry Road, Hinderton

<1> Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council, 2007, Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council Local List of Historic Buildings, LL45 (Index). SCH5437.

Sandstone rotunda formerly a water tower, now converted to a dwelling. Cast iron water tank now removed from top. Mock medieval machicolated* parapet to top of drum. Vertical slit openings around upper part of drum, now glazed. Lower part of drum of rusticated sandstone with some modern openings and extension at ground floor level. The tower forms part of an estate group with Hinderton Hall and Farm.

* Projecting brackets on the outside of castle towers, originally with holes in the floor to drop missiles through.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ3178, 1874 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

The water tower is not depicted on this map.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ3178, 1898 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

The water tower, a circular building, is depicted on this map. It is labelled "Water Tower (Neston and Parkgate Council)".

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ3178, 1912 (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

The water tower, a circular building, is depicted on this map. It is labelled "Water Tower (Neston and Parkgate U.D. Council Water Works)".

<5> Smith and Sons Property Consultants, 2016, The Water Tower, Quarry Road, Hinderton, Neston (Booklet-Leaflet). SCH9212.

The Water Tower (formerly known as Hakas Ghyll) was designed by the architect Alfred Waterhouse, (whose later buildings include Manchester Town Hall and The Natural History Museum). It was built in 1884 for Christopher Bushell, a Liverpool wine merchant, the owner of Hinderton Hall. The tower held water pumped from a well to the water cisterns Hinderton Hall and to parts Neston, the latter commemorated by the Bushell Fountain in Neston town centre. The water tank was removed from the Tower in 1975 when the building was converted into a house.

<6> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Land Line and Master Map Vector Maps, 11/02/2011 (Maps and Plans). SCH4491.

<7> Various, 1775 - 2023, Chester Chronicle, Water in Wirral, 03/01/1885 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH938.

It was originally proposed to build a square water tower, but Mr Christopher Bushell, who had provided the site, requested a round tower which would form “…an ornamental feature and pretty object in the landscape…”. Mr Christopher Bushell’s architect, Mr Alfred Waterhouse, supplied an elevation for the building which would complement the nearby Hinderton Hall, Mr Bushell funded the additional costs.

The tower is constructed from local materials obtained on the spot and is at least twenty-nine feet six inches diameter and fifty feet high. Inside the tower are eight massive counterforts which support the tank which has a capacity of 25,000 gallons. The tower is of ashlar stonework, with the individual stone size decreasing with height. Approximately thirty feet from ground level are twelve windows eighteen inches wide and five feet high. Above are corbels covered by arched spans, above which is the parapet. A moulded doorway, with a datestone bearing the date 1884, provides access to the interior. A steam pump raised the water from the works to the top of the tower.

<8> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 23/06/2022 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

There is further correspondence regarding this article in the Chester Chronicle of the 17th to 31st of January 1885 and the 7th and 12th of February 1885. This generally realtes to the accuracy of the estimates and costs quoted in the original article.

<9> Unknown, 1983-1999, The Wirral Journal, Vol.2 no.2, p.2-3 (Journal/Periodical). SCH9213.

Christopher Bushell, who had been chairman of the Neston Local Board of Health, lived at Hinderton Hall and provided the land for the water tower. Bushell didn’t like the proposed design for a square tower and, at his own expense, called on the architect Alfred Waterhouse, who had designed Hinderton Hall, to design a round tower with sufficient ornament to make it harmonise with the Hall. The stone for the tower was quarried on the spot. In 1902 Bushell's son asked that the stonework of the tower should be raised to improve its appearance, and the Council did this work three years later. The tower was last used for water in about 1958 and remained unused for several years. The building was sold in the 1970s and converted to a house. The top ten feet added in 1905 were removed and used to build a ground floor extension.