Cleadon Water Tower

  • Description

    This imposing structure on Cleadon Hills is a former water pumping station, which once provided water to the South Shields area. The Cleadon Water Tower is in fact a chimney for the former steam-powered pumps, which is visible for miles around. The chimney itself is 100 feet tall and the balcony is 82 feet above ground level, a square spiral staircase of 141 steps winds around the central flue. It was designed to resemble the well known Italian campanile bell towers, and was placed above the works on the highest part of the hill to facilitate boiler draughting and the dispersal of smoke and steam. The entire facility was built for the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company to a design by Thomas Hawksley and opened in 1863. The facility was typical of the grand Victorian waterworks style of the day, and resembles its sister station at Ryhope which was built a few years later. While the ancilliary buildings have since been converted into homes, the chimney has recently been threatened with demolition.
  • Owner

    cauld lad
  • Source

    Flickr (Flickr)
  • License

    What does this mean? Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
  • Further information

    Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/53218307@N06/6967018597/
    Resource type: Image
    Added by: Simon Cotterill
    Last modified: 7 years, 2 months ago
    Viewed: 898 times
    Picture Taken: Unknown
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