Rowhedge Watertower

The Rowhedge Watertower, built in 1902, served the Lexden and Winstree Rural District Council. It is a red brick structure with a red oxide and copper painted cast-iron tank, topped with a pyramidal roof and a wooden louvred turret. Designed as a campanile, the tower’s elevations are in a Romanesque style and are symmetrical, with the exception of a door on the east side. This door features a glazed fanlight under a stone hood mould set on the extrados of a half-round, gauged brick arch. It is flanked by two tall, narrow, semi-circular arched windows with timber casements, set within tall semi-circular recessed panels. Above the entrance is a shorter panel with a similar window. The other elevations are similarly arranged in three bays, each featuring full-height arches in recessed panels. A moulded and dentilled cornice runs under the water tank, with a bracketed cornice to the pyramidal roof; the turret is louvred on three sides and glazed on the fourth.

Water towers like this formed part of water distribution systems, driven by public health reforms in the 19th century. Cast-iron tanks were used from the 1830s, with most towers dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Rowhedge tower is a substantial and imposing example, built in Romanesque Revival style with pilastering and tall arches. It is part of a distinctive group of similar towers in Essex, resembling those at Bocking (Lyons Hall), West Mersea (Upland Road), and Wivenhoe (dating from 1901). These elaborate variations on the traditional brick water tower mimic the form of a campanile, with a notable national example being the “Jumbo” tower in Colchester. The Rowhedge tower is a notable example due to its proportions and detailing.