Drakes Place: Reservoir Walls, Colonnade, Boundary Walls And Railings, Conduits, Drinking Fountain And Fountain

This complex of reservoir walls, a colonnade, boundary walls, railings, conduits, a drinking fountain, and a fountain were built to celebrate the creation of Plymouth’s water supply system, known as the leats, and as part of a small public park near the reservoir. The site incorporates elements dating from 1598, with significant construction work in 1754 on the site of a 1617 conduit (Drake’s Leat), reusing columns from a former 17th-century market building. Further work occurred in 1874 and 1891, including reconstruction of the reservoir and monument.

The structures are constructed from stucco with stucco detailing, paired granite columns, Plymouth limestone ashlar for the terminal impost piers, coursed limestone and brick for the tower piers, and Plymouth limestone rubble for the retaining wall and the reservoir's side walls.

The layout features a battered retaining wall for the reservoir, with an open loggia in front. The loggia has eight bays, positioned either side of a semicircular, stepped fountain, and a small square tower to the left, with flanking boundary walls. The loggia features moulded, keyed segmental arches supported by paired Tuscan columns. The impost piers have moulded plinths and capitals. A flight of stone steps leads to a walkway above the loggia. The tower has pilaster corner piers and a pyramidal slate roof with a wide eaves soffit on large open brackets. The front of the tower has a keyed round brick arch over a split lunette, flanked by a pinnacle above a tablet dated 1754. The south and east returns along North Hill consist of a ramped and coped wall of brought-to-course Plymouth limestone with rock-faced piers and moulded cornices. A pediment, surmounted by a panel dated 1891 and inscribed with the names of those involved in the monument's reconstruction, is aligned with the end of the loggia. The North Hill-facing wall has ashlar piers with moulded cornices, supporting ornate cast-iron railings made by the Ellacott Foundry in Plymouth. A former entrance to the reservoir from North Hill, with stone steps flanked by similar ashlar piers, is located in this section.

This monument is historically significant as a testament to Plymouth’s water supply, which has been sourced from leats originating in Dartmoor since the 16th century. The remains of the conduit, originally built into a wall near the west entrance, and the colonnade were separately listed on May 1, 1975.