Prince's Dock 'Four Winds' Hydraulic Power Station, Mavisbank Road, Glasgow is a Grade A listed building in the Glasgow City local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 15 December 1970. Former power station.

Prince's Dock 'Four Winds' Hydraulic Power Station, Mavisbank Road, Glasgow

WRENN ID
moated-copper-hyssop
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
Glasgow City
Constituency
Glasgow South West MP: Dr Zubir Ahmed (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
15 December 1970
Type
Former power station
OS grid reference
NS 569 650
Coordinates
55.85697, -4.2876
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

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

Description

The Prince's Dock 'Four Winds' Hydraulic Power Station, located on Mavisbank Road in Glasgow, was designed by Burnet, Son and Campbell and completed in 1894. This building features a mix of Italian and Romanesque brickwork with red ashlar details. It is a single-storey, seven-bay pump-house that showcases a Romanesque blind arcade above the windows. The parapet at the southern corner is raised and has blocked oculi.

To the west, there is a two-storey elevation with an arched ground floor. The first floor has six windows and a corbelled cornice, while an arch at the south is located behind a small flat-roofed section. The northern side has two large arched doors; one smaller door is situated under a balustrade, and the larger door is found in the gable end of the tall pumproom. The building has a slate roof with a long ridge ventilator.

A notable feature is the fine square accumulator tower, which is heavily machicolated and adorned with pilaster strips and tall round-headed windows. An arched door on the west side is beneath the Clyde Navigation Trust shield, and there is a curved wall with a balustrade.

The octagonal chimney, originally measuring 172 feet 6 inches, was reduced to 55 feet in 1927. It features a stone course and sculpted panels depicting the Four Winds, with the curved front wall inscribed "Clyde Navigation Trust."

Inside, the lower section is divided by an original arched brick wall and contains cast-iron columns and steel beams. There is a small platform and large vertical cast-iron pipes near the west wall. The accumulator tower retains its original hydraulic equipment, including two tall riveted cylinders, and the windows maintain their original glazing patterns.

Local climate

Prince's Dock 'Four Winds' Hydraulic Power Station, Mavisbank Road, Glasgow sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,290 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 83% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 56 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 32 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.

More on this building

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