The Boat House Adjoining Hatherton Lake In Walsall Aboretum

The Boat House adjoining Hatherton Lake in Walsall Arboretum is a boat house built around 1874 for the Walsall Arboretum and Lake Company, possibly designed by County Surveyor Robert Griffiths. It features a timber frame with hipped tile roofs and a raised lantern, supported by cast-iron posts and set on a concrete base. This single-storey structure is located approximately 240 meters northeast of the main entrance to the arboretum, right at the edge of Hatherton Lake.

The exterior facing the lake is open, with cast-iron columns framing an off-center embarkation platform and three mooring pens, all covered by a shallow hipped roof that includes a raised ridge lantern. The lantern has a timber-framed open clerestory with finials and bargeboards at its gabled ends. The side and rear walls consist of tongue and groove wood with cross-bracing supports.

Inside, the concrete base supports the structure above water level, with storage areas located beside the mooring pens. The roof structure includes tie beams with short vertical struts leading to collars, and above this is the framing for the ridge lantern, which features small king post trusses with raking struts. Shaped wooden boards are present on both end walls at water level. This Victorian boat house is a significant part of a Grade II Registered municipal landscape park.