Water Chute, Northstead Manor Gardens

Water chute of 1932, designed and installed by Charles Wicksteed’s engineering company.

MATERIALS: concrete, red brick, timber and steel.

PLAN: a simple two-storey building, rectangular in plan with the long axis orientated S to N, with the chute extending into the lake to the N.

EXTERIOR: a two-storey tower resembling a signal box, adjacent to a boating lake. It has a concrete base, with timber-clad brick walls. It has pitched roofs with concrete-tiled roof covering, supported by steel frames. A six-bar timber safety balustrade surrounds the launch platform, above which it is open to the eaves. The launch platform is accessed and exited by an external staircase, with timber steps and balustrades, to the rear (S) elevation, with one flight each for entry and egress. The chute projects to the N, extending over the miniature railway line and into the lake, and comprises two steel rails on which the boat runs, carried on steel supports, with concrete stanchions. The run-off area in the lake is constructed of timber that lies partially submerged. The lower floor is accessed by a timber door on the W side of the building.

INTERIOR: the single-cell enclosed ground floor has buttressed machine-made-brick walls, with a concrete ceiling and floor. The gearing system and motor for the rope winch sit inside a raised steel-framed housing at the S end of the room, enclosed by mesh safety barriers*. This connects through the ceiling to the winch system above. The motor was originally mounted upside down from the ceiling, and the holes for the fixtures are still visible, but it is now mounted the right way up. The upper storey (launch platform) is largely open, with a concrete floor surrounding the central rail pit. This is where passengers step down into the boat. At the S end of the launch platform is a timber-clad area, accessed by a gate, with the winch mechanism and rope reel inside a metal cage. The passenger enters by climbing the "in" staircase to the W, and entering the balustraded launch area, from where they are seated in a boat and experience a slide down the chute, onto the surface of the lake below. The boat is then winched up again on a rope and released once more before being winched up again. Passengers then exit down the E staircase. The flat-bottomed boat resembles the original design, but is a modern replica.

• Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the aforementioned items are not of special architectural or historic interest.