Pumping Houses At Cropston Reservoir Water Works

The Pumping Houses at Cropston Reservoir Water Works consist of two pumping houses built in 1870 and 1894, designed by J.B. Everard of Leicester. They are constructed of red brick with stone dressings and slate roofs, and are built in the Tudor style.

The 1870 pumping house, originally housing a beam engine, is two storeys high with a basement, and has a gabled front. It is accessed by five polygonal stone steps leading to a stone doorcase with a moulded Tudor arch and columns. A painted stone tablet displaying the arms of Leicester City is above the door, and a five-light stone mullion window is situated above it, inscribed with “Erected 1870”. There is a small window in the gable, and three three-light windows on each side of the building; the ground floor windows have transoms. A similar five-light window is on the rear. The roof features elaborate cast iron flashings, small lucarnes with finials, and an openwork stone parapet which continues around the octagonal chimney tower, partially truncated to a height of approximately 30 metres.

The 1894 pumping house, which formerly housed a triple expansion engine, is at a right angle to the rear of the 1870 house, and features six polygonal stone steps leading to a stone doorcase elaborately carved with foliage and the arms of Leicester City, dated 1894. A five-light window sits above the door, with three mullion and transom windows to the ground floor and three one-light windows above on each side. A five-light window is on the rear of the first floor.

A single-storey connecting building joins the two pumping houses, situated at the angle between them. A further single-storey building is located to the left and rear, connecting with the 1894 house.

The former boiler house range, of single storey and attic, has four gabled fronts, the left-hand one belonging to the 1894 house. The other three gables feature elaborate cast iron flashings and small lucarnes with finials. Four pairs of carriage doors are positioned below the first-floor band, with hood moulds and label stops above them, along with one-light windows. A cobbled yard, surrounded by low granite and slate rubble stone walls with stone coping and low entrance piers, is situated in front of the carriage doors. Inside the boiler house are iron tension roofs with cast iron Gothic style stretchers. The 1870 house's first floor contains a large room with a massive, triple-purlin wooden roof supported by queen post trusses, approximately 11 metres wide. The complex is set within a park-like setting with mature trees and shrubs.