Water Towers have been key elements in the developed landscapes of communities. They provide a gravity powered water supply to localities both residential and industrial. Local water companies built them on their highest points and pumped water up from sources at lower levels. The water was then distributed by piped infrastructure to those the company served.

The golden age of water towers is seen as 1860-1930. Today many towers have become redundant due to their locations not being sufficiently high enough to service the consumers, as the demand for water expands. Also modern pumping has enabled water pressure to be maintained without such towers.

As a result these once iconic structures, that epitomised the important role of the water company to the community, have been destroyed or converted to other uses. Their architecture proudly reflected their role and this has led to a challenge to find alternative uses for such towers. On this database we record a few examples that have survived in Great Britain. The information that we give on each tower is to the best of our knowledge, but should be verified if used for formal purposes.

In the database each tower has a unique identity code shown in brackets. The first number indicates the map on which Barton lists the tower, the letter(s) identify the county(s) and the last number or letter identifies the tower's position on Barton's list. Source: Barton B. (2003) Water Towers of Britain. Newcomen Soc.