Water tower at Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA is a Grade B2 listed building in the Newry, Mourne and Down local planning authority area, Northern Ireland. First listed on 8 October 1997.
Water tower at Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA
- WRENN ID
- sheer-hammer-ochre
- Grade
- B2
- Local Planning Authority
- Newry, Mourne and Down
- Constituency
- South Down MP: Chris Hazzard (SF)
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Date first listed
- 8 October 1997
- Address
- Water tower at Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA, BT30 6RA
- Irish grid reference
- J 499 442
- Coordinates
- 54.32518, -5.69622
- Source
- NI Environment Agency listing
Description
This is a cylindrical water tower, likely constructed around 1920, originally serving the Down Mental Hospital, now known as Downshire Hospital. The tower was built to provide water for the hospital complex, which is situated to the northeast of Ardglass Road on the southeastern outskirts of Downpatrick. The structure is approximately 11.5 metres high with a diameter of 4.5 metres, and features a water tank measuring roughly 4 by 5 metres at the top. Situated to the rear (east) of the main hospital block, it is now largely surrounded by trees. The base of the tower incorporates a series of tall, semicircular arched niches, one of which is an open doorway. A further arched opening, now filled with a metal grill, is located halfway up the tower, and a 'machicolation' frieze is positioned just below the water tank at the top. The tower stands on a raised, grass-covered area, beneath which lies a reservoir. According to Dr Fred Hamond, the tower likely dates from around 1920 and is of industrial archaeological interest due to its rarity and innovative structural system.
Local climate
Water tower at Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA receives an average of 960 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 87% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 3 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 1 follows 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.
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
- No flood data for this area
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Water Tower, Hunt’s Park, (off Killaughey Road), Donaghadee, Co. Down
- 2 Water Tower, Fermanagh and Tyrone Hospital, 1 Donaghanie Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT79 0NS, ** See General Comments **
- 3 Gate lodge at Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA
- 4 Brick Built Water Tower in the Grounds of Digby Hospital
- 5 Water tower on Castle St, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34
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Nearby listed buildings
- Downshire Hospital (front terrace), Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA
- Gate lodge at Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6RA
- St Patricks Primary School, St Dillon's Avenue, Downpatrick, BT30 6HZ
- Downe Hospital (administration block), 9a Pound Lane, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6JA
- Downe Hospital (main block), 9a Pound Lane, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6JA
- Struell House, 11 Struell Wells Road, Strangford, Downpatrick, Co.Down
- Downpatrick First (Non-Subscribing) Presbyterian Church, Stream Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6DD
- Presbyterian Church, Fountain Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6AW
- Site of former 'Fountain Court', Fountain Street, Downpatrick, Co Down
- 16 Stream Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6DD