Foel Valve Tower is a Grade II* listed building in the Powys local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 31 July 1995. Tower.
Foel Valve Tower
- WRENN ID
- fossil-hammer-brook
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Powys
- Constituency
- Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP: David Chadwick (LD)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 31 July 1995
- Type
- Tower
- Address
- Foel Valve Tower, Elan Valley, Rhayader
- OS grid reference
- SN 910 640
- Coordinates
- 52.26399, -3.5977
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
The Foel Valve Tower is a round valve tower constructed from brown rock-faced stone. The upper stage features a copper dome topped with a low lantern and a weathervane, along with seven round arched windows. On the landward side, there is a doorway that leads onto a bridge connecting the tower to the land. This bridge has an elliptical arch and a parapet that wraps around the broader lower stage of the tower, which extends below water level. The tower includes at least two tiers of barred round-headed intake windows. The interior is reported to contain the original operating machinery.
Local climate
Foel Valve Tower sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,200 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 91% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 84% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 54 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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