Water screening house, Silent Valley reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU is a Grade B2 listed building in the Newry, Mourne and Down local planning authority area, Northern Ireland. First listed on 15 March 1996.

Water screening house, Silent Valley reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU

WRENN ID
guardian-mullion-claret
Grade
B2
Local Planning Authority
Newry, Mourne and Down
Constituency
South Down MP: Chris Hazzard (SF)
Country
Northern Ireland
Date first listed
15 March 1996
Address
Water screening house, Silent Valley reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU, Carrigenagh Upper, BT34 4PU
Irish grid reference
J 307 216
Coordinates
54.12693, -6.0008
Source
NI Environment Agency listing

Also on this page: radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

This water screening house, built between 1940 and 1959, is functionally linked to the Bignian tunnel and forms part of a group of water-related buildings within the Silent Valley reservoir area, including a screening house, scour valve house, and lime dosing plant. Its design demonstrates a deliberate effort to create a well-considered utilitarian structure, sharing a similar style with the 1933 screening house. The bronze plaques within the walls are a crucial element in understanding the story of the Mourne Water Scheme.

The building is a single-story structure containing water screening plant, constructed from rock-faced granite blocks laid in irregular courses, set upon a chamfered projecting base. It features stepped ashlar granite quoins and an oversailing ashlar parapet to a flat concrete roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods are present, and a metal roller shutter door is set into the south-west façade, surrounded by ashlar granite. The windows are paired 1/1 sash windows, the upper portion opening and the lower portion hung, also with ashlar surrounds and chamfered cills. A “1950” datestone sits above the door, flanked by two bronze plaques. The plaque to the left details the duplicate aqueduct served by this screening plant and lists officials from Belfast City & District Water Commissioners. The plaque to the right recounts the history of the Mourne Scheme and the need for this new aqueduct.

The building’s completion in 1950 marked its entry into service upon the opening of the Bignian tunnel in 1952. It provided an additional aqueduct belonging to Belfast City & District Water Commissioners, connecting the Silent Valley and Dunnywater (Annalong valley). This additional conduit became necessary due to the construction of the Slieve Bignian tunnel, which diverted the headwaters of the Annalong River into the Silent Valley reservoir. The original 1901 conduit proved insufficient to meet demand, having initially been intended for a reservoir in the Annalong valley. The building was constructed by McLaughlin & Harvey (Belfast), with R.H. McCullough serving as engineer for the Belfast City & District Water Commissioners and Binnie, Deacon & Gourley (Westminster) acting as consulting engineers.

Local climate

Water screening house, Silent Valley reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,160 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 89% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 96% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 3 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 2 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°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.

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Screening chamber (1933), Silent Valley Reservoir, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B2 19 m
  2. Lime dosing plant, Silent Valley Reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade Record Only 46 m
  3. Scour valve house etc, Silent Valley Reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B1 70 m
  4. Exhibition hut, Silent Valley Reservoir, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B2 93 m
  5. Fountain, Silent Valley, Annalong, Newry, Co. Down Grade B2 111 m
  6. Lodges, Silent Valley Reservoir Scheme, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B1 121 m
  7. Electricity generating house, Silent Valley Reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade Record Only 121 m
  8. Dam excavation shaft and trench shuttering, Silent Valley Reservoir Scheme, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B2 127 m
  9. ‘The Restaurant’, Silent Valley Reservoir Scheme, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B2 163 m
  10. Overflow pipe, Silent Valley Reservoir, Head Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4PU Grade B+ 224 m