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Summary

Description

Late 19th century incorporating circa 1847 fabric. Single storey, attic and basement, 3-bay, multi-gabled house with deep bracketed eaves, substantial Italiantate stone porch and range of single storey workshops to rear forming I-plan. Squared, coursed sandstone with polished ashlar dressings. Base course. Fairly regular fenestration with raised margins and bracketed cills.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: principal elevation of house to NE. Central porch with pilaster quoins and double-arched window to front with pilaster margins; deep bracketed eaves forming broken pediment above with spike finial; 2-leaf timber-panelled door to left return.

Gabled dormer breaking eaves to left bay; gable to right bay. Single central windows at ground to side gables; basement area with steps and railings to NW gable. T-plan range of stores and workshops adjoining to rear with irregular arrangement of windows and timber-boarded doors to both elevations

Non-traditional glazing to house; small-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to workshop range. Corniced stacks with clay cans. Graded grey slate roof. Velux window above porch to house; traditional 2-pane skylights to workshops; ridge vent to workshops.

INTERIOR OF HOUSE: encaustic tiled floor to porch. Timber stair with handrail supported on cast-iron wall brackets. Some cornicing.

WATER TESTING HOUSE: circa 1900. Single storey, 1-room gabled outbuilding with applied ornamental timber truss to front gable, bracketed eaves and plain bargeboards. Neatly squared, stugged sandstone with polished ashlar window cills. Base course. Central timber-panelled door with herringbone panels; GCWW in raised lettering above. Sash and case windows to side elevations (2-pane glazed lower sashes; 12-pane glazing to upper) with projecting cills. Slate roof.

Statement of Special Interest

Although the postal address is Aurs Road, the house is actually accessed from Corselet Road. It is situated near the former high and low filters.

A well-detailed cottage with a substantial range of outbuildings, built as ancillaries to the Gorbals waterworks, one of the earliest large-scale water supply schemes in Scotland. The cottage and outbuildings are of historic importance for their connection with the waterworks. The cottage was originally single storey and contained a directors' board room and living accommodation for the site superintendent. In the late 19th century the house was considerably remodelled with the addition of the upper storey, large Italianate porch and workshops to the rear, which provided storage and working space for the large maintenance department responsible for the upkeep of the site. The basement may also have been added at this time, as it does not seem to appear on the 1st edition OS map and the railings are the standard ones used by the Glasgow Corporation Waterworks at the turn of the century. The water testing house was used to test the quality of the treated water.

The Gorbals Gravitation Water Company was a private firm set up to supply water to the Gorbals as water provision in the area was poor, relying largely on wells. The Brockburn was identified as a good potential source, and after a certain amount of opposition an Act of Parliament was passed in 1846 allowing this. The first phase of the scheme comprised Waulkmill Glen, Ryatt Linn and Littleton reservoirs and associated filters and supplied water to the Gorbals, Pollokshaws and Govan. It was built 1847-8 by the engineer William Gale, elder brother of James M Gale who worked on the Loch Katrine scheme. The construction of the scheme was a considerable engineering achievement and the cast-iron pipes used to carry the water from the reservoirs to the filters and thence into the city were made using newly-developed vertical casting technologies.

In 1853 a further Act of Parliament was passed to allow the expansion of the scheme with the construction of Balgray reservoir. This more than doubled the capacity of the scheme and enabled it to supply Rutherglen, Nitshill, Hurlet, Barrhead, Renfrew and surrounding areas, in addition to the places mentioned above. In 1855 the company was bought out by Glasgow Corporation Waterworks, and therefore became publically-owned. Listed as part of the thematic review of the Glasgow water supply system.

References

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