First World War water tower and reservoir, Stow Maries Aerodrome, Cold Norton (EHER 81748)

Partially destroyed. A water tower tank mounted on four brick piers, on a square plan and with a ground-floor room. It was fed by a reservoir, which could not be traced when the site was surveyed in 1997.

1997. RCHME field survey. The water tower consists of a tank mounted on four brick piers, the lower parts of which are linked by brick walls to form a ground-floor room. The plan is essentially square, but the tank, formed from welded iron or steel panels, has rounded corners. It is supported on six north-south steel joists, which rest in turn on two east-west steel joists of larger scantling; all of them are of I-section. The two lower joists are seated on ferro-concrete pads at the tops of four English-bond brick piers, three bricks square on plan. The ground-floor room is formed by Flemish-bond walls which are recessed on both faces of the piers. The north and south walls each incorporate an iron-framed window with the characteristic upper central pivoting section. The windows have segmental brick heads, and sills formed from bricks pitched at a slight angle rather than tiles. In the west wall there is an entrance spanned by paired ferroconcrete lintels. The flat roof has collapsed. The outlet from the water tank descended to the concrete floor in the north-west corner. Against the south wall, towards the east side, a rectangular scar in the floor with a 5cm-diameter pipe rising through it to a height of about 25cm, probably indicates the position of a small pump to raise water to the tank. Brackets survive for a pipe rising against the south-east pier towards an inlet in the base of the tank. This evidence is distinct from that for the rainwater fall pipe, still in situ but positioned on the external face of the tower. The tank could also be drained via a further outlet at the base of the west side. No above-ground traces of the reservoir were present. <1> April 2012. Grade II* listed. Plan: A square plan comprising a tank mounted on four brick piers, the lower parts of which are linked by brick walls to form a ground-floor room. Exterior: The tank is formed from welded steel or iron panels and is supported on six, I-section north-south steel joists resting on two larger east-west joists, which in turn, are seated on reinforced concrete pads at the top of each pier. The ground-floor room has walls laid to Flemish bond, recessed on both faces of the piers. There are metal casement windows to the north and south with segmental brick heads. In the west wall is an entrance with concrete lintels. Interior: Not inspected. Subsidiary feature: The reservoir cannot be observed at ground floor level. <2> The building is depicted on the 3rd edition OS map. <3>