Description
John F Bateman, circa 1856; James M Gale, 1890; 1930-32. Rectangular walled enclosure containing 1856 Valve House, 1932 Valve House, and circa 1890 'birdcage' ventilation shaft to junction chamber. Security covers to openings and vents added 2007.
1856 VALVE HOUSE: 1-bay, rectangular-plan, flat-roofed Italianate valve house with deep consoled eaves on battered podium set into sloping ground. Coursed, bull-faced sandstone with ashlar dressings. Base course. Prominent long and short quoins and window margins. Bipartite window to front; door to rear (2007 replacement); single windows to sides. Ornamental glazing pattern in fixed iron windows.
INTERIOR: 19th century cast-iron operating mechanism.
1932 VALVE HOUSE: 1-bay, rectangular-plan, flat-roofed crenellated valve house. Coursed, bull-faced sandstone with ashlar dressings. Base course. Narrow ashlar window margins. 2007 metal door with 1932 date lintel to N; windows to other elevations. Stone steps to rear of podium. Diamond pane glazing in fixed iron windows. Stone steps, retaining wall and railings to subterranean 1890 chamber. INTERIOR: cast-iron operating mechanism to upper and lower chambers.
VENTILATION SHAFT: 1890. Circular snecked, bull-faced sandstone enclosure with access gate and domed wrought-iron 'birdcage' top. Projecting cope.
BOUNDARY WALL AND GATES: battered random rubble boundary wall with rounded cope and 2 iron gates to S. Stone steps to pedestrian gate.
Statement of Special Interest
Two of the 5 valve houses built as part of the Glasgow Corporation Water Works system (see below for significance of the scheme as a whole) from 1856 onwards, forming a strong group with each other and the ventilation shaft of the associated junction chamber.
The conduit of the water system is predominantly subterranean, but the valleys of Duchray, Endrick and Blane, which were too deep and broad for the use of normal aqueduct bridges, necessitated the use of syphon pipes to carry the water across them. The valve house is the point at which the water enters the syphon pipes and the engineering of the subterranean structure of the valve houses is of at least equal importance to their external appearance. The pipes themselves also represent a considerable technical achievement, using newly-developed vertical casting technologies.
The earlier valve house, built in the late 1850s is one of three that were built to roughly the same design, and is identical to the one at Ballat. These were both originally designed with piended roofs and it is not known whether the design was changed before execution, or if they were altered subsequently. The second valve house actually represents 2 phases of expansion. A subterranean valve house was constructed in 1890 as part of the 1885 duplication scheme (see below) and still exists below the castellated structure, which was erected on the expansion of this scheme in the 1930s.
The Glasgow Corporation Water Works system, which brings water down to Glasgow from Loch Katrine, was admired internationally as an engineering marvel when it was opened in 1860. It was one of the most ambitious civil engineering schemes to have been undertaken in Europe since Antiquity, employing the most advanced surveying and construction techniques available, including the use of machine moulding and vertical casting technologies to produce the cast-iron pipes. The scheme represents the golden age of municipal activity in Scotland and not only provided Glasgow with fresh drinking water, thereby paving the way for a significant increase in hygiene and living standards, but also a source of hydraulic power that was indispensable to the growth of Glasgow's industry as a cheap and clean means of lifting and moving heavy plant in docks, shipyards and warehouses. The civic pride in this achievement is visible in every structure connected with the scheme, from the neatly-detailed gates and railings along its route, to the massive masonry structures and iron troughs that carry the conduit and, in most cases, have withstood without failure or noticeable deterioration the daily pressure of many millions of gallons of water for well over 100 years.
Glasgow's Lord Provost, Robert Stewart (1810-66) was the driving force behind the implementation of a municipally-owned water scheme to provide clean water to Glasgow's rapidly increasing population. Loch Katrine was identified as a suitable supply and after some objections from various parties, an Act of Parliament authorising the scheme was passed in 1855. The scheme was built in two main phases following this Act and another 1885. The 1855 scheme, which was opened by Queen Victoria in 1859 and was fully operational by 1860, had been designed to allow for significant expansion as demand increased, and this work was carried in the 20 years following the opening. The 1885 Act allowed a second aqueduct to be built, which followed a slightly shorter course than the earlier scheme. The capacity of the second aqueduct was also expanded during the first half of the 20th century.
John Frederick Bateman (1810-1889) was chosen as the engineer for the scheme and construction work commenced in 1856. Bateman was to become one of the world's most eminent water engineers, and worked on a number of other water supply schemes in Britain, Europe and Asia. He was assisted by James Morrison Gale (1830-1905), who on the completion of the initial scheme in 1859 was appointed Water Engineer for the City of Glasgow, a post he held till 1902. Gale was responsible for over-seeing the incremental expansion of the first scheme during the 1860s and '70s and the building of the second aqueduct from 1885 onwards.
Listed following the thematic review of Loch Katrine water supply system in 2008.