Iconic Kimberley water tower awarded Grade II listed building status

At nearly 100-feet high, Swingate Water Tower dominates the skyline around Kimberley.

The tower was opened back in 1950 when the failing reservoir in nearby Watnall prompted the Nottingham Corporation to seek another way to bring water from the Derwent Valley, treat it, and supply it to taps in the area.

Back then, Nottingham's daily intake of water was 4,900,000 gallons a day, so the Swingate tower provided a huge space where this water could be stored closer to the city than in a reservoir in Ambergate which was used before.

Despite no longer being operational, the building on Babbington Lane has stood the test of time and is still visible for miles.

The tower, along with its stairs and balustrading, is now officially listed on the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed structure.

A Grade II listed building is defined as a building or structure that is ‘of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve it’.

The old water tower has been deemed a site of architectural as well as historic interest.

The listing reads: “The building is unusually architectural for a reinforced concrete water tower, and is designed with pleasing proportions in a striking neo-Georgian style.

“The water tower forms an unusually architecturally-refined ensemble which goes far beyond what would be necessary merely for utility.”

It has been deemed as being historically interesting “as an expression of civic pride”.

The water tower was decommissioned and out of use by 2022.

See the fulll listing on the Historic England website here.