In the town centre the tallest building at 110 feet dominating the town is the Chatterton Water Tower. Built in 1955 it has the capacity for 750,000gallons of water with offices below and various transmission aerials on the roof. A stair case runs up through the building into a penthouse at the top where engineers can then access the water tank through two openings in the roof if required. The building has 20 openings in the front sides to act as wind breaks. This can give an almost musical sound around the tower on a windy day.
Erecting this building was quite a feat requiring 22 miles of scaffolding and the concrete had to be laid at a temperature mot below 34 degrees requiring large braziers to be burnt around the site as it was erected.
In the 1970’s the then Anglian Water Authority each Christmas erected animated lights on the tower of a sea lion balancing a ball. In 1997, after much criticism of its bare concrete appearance the tower was painted terracotta and white, which in turn was subject to much criticism with many preferring it’s utilitarian concrete appearance before it was painted. The paint job was renewed with the same colours in 2017.
Comments