Sighting Tower is a Grade II listed building in the North Yorkshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 31 March 2006. Survey tower.
Sighting Tower
- WRENN ID
- winter-minaret-root
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- North Yorkshire
- Constituency
- Skipton and Ripon MP: Sir Julian Smith (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 31 March 2006
- Type
- Survey tower
- Address
- Sighting Tower, Ilton-Cum-Pott
- OS grid reference
- SE 159 769
- Coordinates
- 54.1885, -1.75766
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Sighting Tower in Ilton-cum-Pott is a survey tower built in 1903 for the Harrogate Corporation. It is constructed from hammer-dressed stone laid in courses and stands approximately 14 meters tall. The structure features two buttressed piers that are T-shaped in cross-section, rising about 10 meters to support the upper part of the tower. These piers are oriented so that their T-shaped heads create a narrow slit that is 55 centimeters wide and around 10 meters tall through the tower. The upper section of the tower is roughly square and is surrounded by buttresses that extend from the piers.
This survey tower was one of three built to assist in the alignment of the 3-mile-long Carlesmoor Aqueduct tunnel, which was designed to transport water from Roundhill Reservoir beneath Masham Moor to supply Harrogate. Permission for this project was granted in 1901, the tunnel was completed in 1908, and the system became operational in 1911. The other two towers were located on the watershed near High Langwith Cross and just beyond the tunnel portal at Carlesmoor.
Survey towers like this one are uncommon, as they often become obsolete once the engineering project is finished. This particular tower is noted for its distinctive design and is recognized as a rare type of structure.
Local climate
Sighting Tower receives an average of 950 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 74% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 62% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 55 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 33 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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