Dame Mary Bolle'S Water Tower Including Water Wheel Housing And Overflow Channel

Dame Mary Bolle's Water Tower, which may have also served as a gazebo, dates from the early to mid-17th century and was restored around 1985. The structure is built from large well-coursed gritstone and features a stone slate roof. It is a five-stage tower with a square plan and has quoins. The first and second stages are stepped with a chamfered band, while the third and fourth stages have a projecting band of square section.

On the west face, there is a plinth interrupted by a Tudor-arched doorway with composite jambs and a chamfered surround. The right-hand jamb is inscribed with the date "1685," which reflects true 17th-century style. There are rectangular ventilators on either side and above the door in the second stage. Below the eaves of the pyramidal roof, there is a 2-light double-chamfered mullioned window. The east face has a similar Tudor-arched doorway with a deep lintel and composite jambs in the second stage, along with rectangular openings above each stage and a 2-light window under the eaves. Both the north and south faces feature a 2-light window in the second stage and under the eaves.

Inside, there is a partly-excavated large cistern carved out of bedrock, surrounded by large kerb stones on two sides, which is fed by a spring in the northeast corner. A large spine beam with mortices for floor joists supports the second stage, with plastered walls above. Below the west entrance, at a lower level and partially sunk into the hillside, are the remains of a 19th-century cast-iron water wheel, accompanied by a narrow overflow channel and a segmental arched open roof above. This area is accessed via two flights of nine stone steps, which have dressed rubble walls on the west side with quoins and chamfered angles.

This unusual building is associated with the now-demolished Heath Old Hall and offers a vista of the city of Wakefield, suggesting it may have functioned as a viewing tower. The purpose of the water wheel is uncertain, but it may have been used to drive water from the cistern to a tank at the top and is believed to have served a nearby ironworks.