Engine House Of Metropolitan Water Board

The Engine House of the Metropolitan Water Board, formerly at the Waterworks Pumping Station, is a large building designed to resemble a medieval fortress, constructed between 1854 and 1856 by Chadwell Mylne. It is made of stock brick with stone dressings and features battlements and large stepped buttresses surrounding the structure. The "keep" consists of two storeys with a tall basement plinth and has six windows on the main south-west front. At the north-east and south-west corners, there are round towers with square bartizans; the former has a tall conical roof, and both towers are topped with crow-stepped battlements. A continuous quasi-entablature with cable moulding runs around the towers. To the east, there is a taller octagonal chimney tower. The entrance is accessed by eight steps, the top one featuring a bootscraper, leading into a forebuilding along the north wall and into the lower "bailey" building, which has segmental arcading and two slit windows in each bay. This structure serves as an important picturesque landmark.