Water Tower Works

Since woodland works have taken a bit of a back seat recently it seems like a good idea to report on the water tower, as it is being renovated for the second time. The interior will benefit from modern technology, in the form of lighting and plumbing. Sad to have to replace a 3 month old boiler but if water damage makes something unsafe then there’s no choice.

The replacement kitchen is the only major item still to complete, everything else is on a snagging list or pending delivery. The old water tank (not the very original but a domestic one) has been removed. It's really nice to see the external lights back on again and now that we have LED, isn’t life so much better, not to mention more cost effective. Paintwork on the outside wasn't affected by the flood and much of the external paintwork had been re done a couple of years ago. The front door though - that was always a problem and no matter what we did the oak wood always looked horribly stained. It now has a new coat of paint instead of varnish and what a transformation.

I’ll post pictures once completed but in the meantime, here is an extract of the history of the tower as written by David Smith ex provost of Midlothian Council and local historian.

THE WATER TOWER - DALKEITH

1.HISTORY

The Water Tower at Dalkeith is thought to be the oldest building of its kind in Scotland. It was built in 1879 at a cost of £1,330 on land acquired from the Duke of Buccleuch. The construction was carried out by an engineer , Mr. James A Leslie. Contractswere placed with Messrs James Thorburn & Sons , and Messrs. Hanna , Donald and Wilson for the building and the erection of the iron tank respectively. The 80 foot high tower served as a “cistern” for around 18,000 gallons of water which was then fed by gravity to the towns of Dalkeith and Eskbank. The construction is brick with stone facings and the 18 foot high tank, now removed , took up the entire space of the “house” section which is clad in wood.

Water was pumped to the tower from various sources throughout its working life. One of the early principle sources was from a bore tapping into an artesian wellat Bridgend .This supplied up to 200,000 gallons of water per day to the tower.

In 1910 searches for further supplies led to Ironmills Park. A mill wheel was in working order and this was used to pump water from a bore sunk in the flour mill (previously an ironmill ). Water was pumped into a tank with a capacity of 10,000 gallons then conveyed to the tower to be mixed with other supplies.

2. CLOSURE AND CONVERSION

Eventually the water tower was not able to meet the demands for water supply , and it was closed around 1950. In 1975 the local council gifted the building to the Dalkeith Community Council who had hoped to convert the building into a camera obscura or museum. However the question of public safety and costs were to restrict the Community Council plans and instead the tower was offered for sale to the public. It was purchased at a cost of £6,013 by Gerry and Susan Goldwyre in 1988.

Renovation of the grade B listed tower began after 6 months of planning. The local authority were sympathetic when considering the submission for conversion and the local people of Dalkeith and Eskbank were in favour of the conversion of a much loved land mark. The tower now has 7 floors with stunning views across Midlothian , Fife and Edinburgh. The only major change to the tower was the addition of a balcony which has enhanced its appearance. The tower features regularly in books and magazines . The conversion won many awards and created substantial press and public interest.

Extracted from “ A History Of Dalkeith’s Water Supply “ by David R Smith. 1996 Local Historian

3. AWARDS. 1990

·        ·Sunday Times “ Best Conversion Of Industrial Building “

·        ·Independent television programme“ Through The Keyhole” featured the owner for the most innovative house in Britain.

·        ·The Sunday Times SCOTLAND Morton Fraser Milligan Heritage Award for the best architectural Conversion .

·        ·The Sunday Times SCOTLAND Morton Fraser Milligan Heritage Award for the architect of the tower , Gerry Goldwyre.

·        ·National Trust Conversion Award.