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Summary

Description

Dated 1910, extended 1960. Large, distinctive 9- x 3-bay, symmetrical, gabled former water filter plant with prominent crenellated tower to N. Red brick in Flemish Garden Wall bond. Base course, raised cills. Bays with almost full-height, slightly recessed panels, separated by pilaster strips. Segmental-arched window openings to N and S elevations. Gable elevations to E & W with decorative sawtooth design at wallhead. E gable with dedication plaque (see below). Some timber sliding doors. Some single-storey lean-tos to S. (Currently not in use, 2010).

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: North elevation: central, 4-stage tower with narrow, segmental-arched windows, elevations to N, E & W of tower with pairs of symmetrical recessed full-length panels, cornice at 3rd and 4th stages. Slightly advanced central chimney at 4th stage to E. Plaque to W elevation, inscribed: MONTROSE WATERWORKS, FILTER HOUSE, ERECTED 1910, EXTENDED 1960, W.STONE, PROVOST. H.HALL, CONVENOR.

INTERIOR: (seen 2010). Interior with no machinery (2010). Walls with white painted bricks. Timber roof structure. Tight iron spiral stair with banister within tower. Some decorative moulding to window openings at tower.

Windows mainly boarded: some multi-pane timber sashes remain. Roof mainly with grey and purple slates: some asbestos roofing. Some rooflights with broken glazing.

Statement of Special Interest

This is a well-detailed former water filter plant which is distinguished by its crenellated tower. The decorative brick detailing is notable and adds a distinction to the former industrial building. The building is situated on a small hill to the North of Montrose and has some presence in the distant landscape.

It is likely that the central 4-bays together with the tower were built in 1910 and the other flanking bays added in the 1960s.

The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1868 depicts a reservoir at this site, and with further Kinnaber Water Works buildings to the East, at the opposite side of a railway. By the map of 1927, 2 reservoirs and a filter house are depicted on this site and there is a pumping station to the East. It seems likely that as the town of Montrose expanded, so did the requirement for clean water and this led to the building of this water filter.

The importance of providing clean drinking water to every household became particularly pertinent after cholera was discovered to have been linked to the drinking of impure water in the mid 19th century. Water filter plants and towers were often fine municipal structures and some were focal points in the landscape, such as at Cambusbarron, near Stirling (see separate listing). At Whittinghame in East Lothian (see separate listing), the filter station is set into the hillside to complement the landscape.

References

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