Valve tower at Upper Lliw reservoir with bridge and bridge abutment is a Grade II listed building in the Swansea local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 23 May 2003. Valve tower.

Valve tower at Upper Lliw reservoir with bridge and bridge abutment

WRENN ID
ragged-marble-jet
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Swansea
Constituency
Gower MP: Tonia Antoniazzi (Lab)
Country
Wales
Date first listed
23 May 2003
Type
Valve tower
Address
Valve tower at Upper Lliw reservoir with bridge and bridge abutment, Cwmlliw, Mawr
OS grid reference
SN 660 059
Coordinates
51.73608, -3.94129
Source
Cadw listing

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

Description

The valve tower at Upper Lliw reservoir is a circular structure built from sandstone ashlar, featuring a leaded domed roof and designed in a classical style. The tower showcases finely cut channelled rustication and is topped with a large curved cornice moulding. It has a deep plinth with an ogee-moulded top that surrounds an arched doorway on the west side. There are three arched windows, each with moulded surrounds and stone sills. Below the plinth, there is a prominent semi-circular or bull-nose base moulding, with channelled stonework extending underwater. The dome is adorned with raised ribs and a pierced metal crown at the top.

Adjacent to the tower is a delicate footbridge that features a shallow arch made of four curved cast-iron pieces with open spandrels, where each pair meets at the center. The bridge is equipped with iron railings topped with ball finials on the posts and horizontal rails. The west end of the bridge rests on a semi-circular abutment that has a large ring moulding matching that of the tower, along with two quadrant curves of railings.

Local climate

Valve tower at Upper Lliw reservoir with bridge and bridge abutment sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,400 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 97% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 97% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 21 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 8 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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  • 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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