"Jumbo" goes up for sale again…

After purchasing Colchester's iconic, Grade II* listed, "Jumbo" water tower for a whopping £330,000, back in February 2006, Mr. Braithwaite seems to have concluded that there is no viable commercial use for the building. He is putting the tower up for auction on the 29^th of May… As reported in the Colchester Gazette, no reserve has been put on the sale, and our friends at the Balkerne Tower Trust, believe they have a once in a lifetime opportunity, to acquire this icon for the people of Colchester - if they can raise sufficient funds. If you are interested in what they propose to do with the building, or wish to help them in their endeavour to purchase the water tower, please visit their web site: www.savejumbo.org.uk.

Note: that the Balkerne Tower Trust is a distinct entity and not part of the British Water Tower Appreciation Society.

Update: Jumbo sold for a staggering £190,000 - out of reach of the Balkerne Tower Trust.

Ferrers

Utscheid water tower for sale (now sold)

Post Script

In July 2011 ownership of the water tower was transferred to Dr Quintin de Jong, Dipl. Ing. 

Regular readers of this blog might notice we have featured a lot of German water towers. This is not by design, more an outcome that Germany in the time of its kaisers was on the cutting edge of water infrastructure, often employing British engineers, and now recognises their cultural heritage more than we do in Britain. There is more than one water tower society active on the continent.


One of our members has passed on a email from  Maurits and Saskia Campert, a Dutch couple from the Hague, announcing that their holiday home, a water tower in Germany's spectacular 'Eifel Country', near the Luxembourg border, is coming onto the market soon.


Their website www.watertowerutscheid.eu has all the details with interior and exterior photographs.


The database of cultural assets in the Trier region (auto-translated from German) says:


High above the valley located in the beautiful Eifel Utscheid village and standing on the highest level is a 16-meter-high circular water tower built in 1956 in red sandstone  by the district water company. Professor Oswald Ungers bought the tower for 1DM (while the land is on a renewable 30 year lease) and converted it in 1993 into an apartment and temporary gallery.  The tank and the mechanicals have been removed.


The Camperts sent along more details but BWTAS cannot accept responsibility for their accuracy:


Wasserturm Utscheid Buscht 
Water Tower Utscheid 
Château d'eau Utscheid Eifel 


Zum Wasserturm 1, 54675 Utscheid, RP. 


In the German Eifel at 15 kilometers from the Luxembourg border you find our water tower, which was bought in late 2006 by us from Professor Ungers. This is a monument, "Kulturgut” classified as a "Technisches Denkmal" in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Region Trier. 


It is ideal as a quiet retreat for two adults without children. 


Located at 320 meters altitude in the hills and only 200 meters from a forest in the municipality Utscheid with its 500 inhabitants.  All facilities are found nearby in Mettendorf (5 km.),  Neuerburg (10 km) and Bitburg (15 km.). Vianden (Lux.) and Echternach (Lux.) at approximately 18 km. 


The tower was built in 1956 (original building plans available) and served as a water tower until 1963. In 1993 it was converted into a house by Prof. Oswald Ungers of Cologne. 


The costs amounted to DM 200,000 (100,000 euros).


The tower is 15 meters high with 5 levels connected through concrete steps against the outside wall with 4 flights of 13 steps. It has a new slate roof. The tower is built of 70 cm thick red sandstone blocks. The outer diameter at ground level is about 7 meters and the inner diameter about 5.60 meters. The content is about 300 m3. 


On the ground floor is the storage room, guest toilet and central heating. On the second level is the fully equipped kitchen with two large steel windows. The next level has a view into the kitchen.


The fourth level is for the bedroom with 200 x 200 bed and bathroom with separate toilet. Here are two large steel exterior windows with hardwood double glazed windows inside. There is a Enev-Air ventilation system. The floors are separated by wooden folding doors. 


The showpiece is the 'tower room' with unrestricted views to 60 km in the four directions (e.g. on Golf Club Süedeifel and Segelflugverein Südeifel) by four large steel exterior windows with hardwood double glazed windows inside. The property is available fully furnished. 


The total floor area is approximately 80 m2. 


The whole tower is heated by a 24 kW boiler Vaillant 242E (suitable for 500 m3) with a buried gas tank of 5000 liters capacity and with cast iron radiators on all floors. Hot water is through the same system. When heated to around 10 degrees through the year, the consumption is about 3000 liters. The system is sufficient for continuous occupation through severe winters.


The tower stands on a plot of 200 m2 (17 x 12) with a lease from the municipality. The ground rent is 500 euros per year until 2023 and can thereafter be further extended for another 30 years for the same annual amount. There is parking for two cars. 


The other fixed costs (insurance, local taxes, etc.) are minimal. 


Sewage and telephone (DSL possible via  parabolic antenna) are installed. There is a paved road to the door. 


Buyers without chain only need apply. Because the sale concerns a monument, permission from the authorities for the sale must be obtained so need for a "good standing"  is inevitable.

East Dereham Victorian Tower

Brown & Co. kindly let BWTAS photograph the Victorian Tower they have for sale (details here). This large Victorian tower has great potential - but also will require a great deal of effort in order to realise it, the result could be worth it. This handsome tower is not so photogenic inside: The ground floor consists of two large rooms, the largest containing the capped borehole, probably the original one sunk in 1881. Stairs take you up to the second level, consisting of 5 rooms. These were used as office accommodation by Anglia Water, heated by open fires. From here a very steep staircase, virtually a ladder, takes you to a trapdoor through which you access the void beneath the tank, that is supported by two immense steel beams. Unfortunately I was unable to find any markings on the ironwork that would indicate the maker. A second, shorter stair/ladder gives access to the tank. This reveals a very interesting aspect: the tank is internally flanged! Normally this is done to provide a more aesthetically pleasing exterior, however this tank is totally enclosed, and in such cases would normally be externally flanged to ease cleaning. The 30,000 gallon tank has a single compartment, unlike most modern towers where it would be partitioned so that it may be drained while maintaining supply.Plans of the existing tower may be found here. The tower is located in Cemetery Road, at O.S. Grid Ref. TF 99112 14218. More information may be found about this tower in a previous post on 23^rd January 2009. Photographs on this site have been re-sized for the web, the complete gallery may be viewed by clicking here, where the pictures, at full resolution, may be accessed.

Ferrers

Landmark Lendal Tower up for sale

The Lendal Tower in the city of York is up for sale. Previously described in this blog, according to the Yorkshire Post the 700 year old tower is on the market for £650,000 in a distress sale of the assets of colourful property speculator David Hattersley.

The particulars available from Carter Jonas include the tower and several buildings and cottages.

From the Yorkshire Post:

Seven hundred years of history

Lendal Tower has stood next to the River Ouse since about 1300. It was built to help defend the city and housed a great iron chain that could be pulled across the river to the Barker Tower opposite. This gave protection in times of trouble and enabled tolls to be levied on river traffic. In 1677, the tower was leased for 500 years to the York Waterworks company established by Henry Whistler. It became the city's first waterworks with a horse- powered pump supplying the water via pipes made from hollowed out tree trunks.

After Mr Whistler died the concern was sold to Col William Thornton of Cattal and later to Jerome Dring in 1779 for £7,000 with shares held by John Smeaton, designer of the Eddystone Lighthouse. Mr Smeaton helped improve the steam engine at the waterworks, which in 1836 was given its own dedicated engine house. Lendal Tower's tank was also removed in the mid-1800s lowering the building by 10ft, and railway architect George Townsend Andrews added the medieval, crenellated roof. It was then used as stores and offices for the waterworks company that eventually became part of Yorkshire Water.

Going for a Burton

A disused concrete water tower at Burton Green in Warwickshire is for sale as freehold by auction on July 1, 2009

If you fancy bidding on this one-of-a-kind property contact mat.harris@kingsturge.com or jason.birch@kingsturge.com.

Details from Coventry Telegraph

Water tower for sale

Severn Trent Water is disposing of 420 properties over the next 18 months including a water tower next to Manor Cottage in Pebworth, Worcestershire at an auction on July 1 in London.

Selling agent Jason Birch from Kings Sturge Savills (Nottingham), expects the land to go for around £20,000 to £25,000.

He said: “It is big enough for a detached house to go on, but that depends on planning permission.”

BWTAS are waiting for more details and will put them here when we have them.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/l3wcm8

Savills
9 Fletcher Gate
Nottingham
NG1 1QQ
Tel: +44 (0)115 934 8000
Fax: +44 (0)115 934 8001/002
Email: nottingham@savills.com