A water tower built in 1924
West Mersea's Upland Road water tower was built in 1924. It belongs to a period when piped water supply was replacing dependence on wells and rainwater storage in a growing seaside town.
The tower was designed in a campanile style, more elaborate than a plain industrial tank. Its multi-coloured brickwork rises above a blue-brick plinth. The iron tank is enclosed beneath a copper-clad pavilion roof, crowned by a smaller turret and weather vane. The former window openings have been bricked in, retaining their arched brick surrounds.
From wells to mains supply
Older Mersea households relied on local sources such as St Peter's Well, alongside other wells and stored water. The tower was part of the newer distribution infrastructure needed as houses spread beyond the old village.
A landmark made with local bricks
Bricks from West Mersea Brickworks were used in the tower. Its construction therefore connects two parts of the island's twentieth-century industrial history: local brickmaking and the public water network.
In August 2020, Colchester Borough Council included the tower on its local heritage list. This recognises its interest locally; it is not the same as a national Grade II listing.
The fire of 1931
The water tower caught fire on 9 May 1931. A later account by Ron Green and Tony Millatt records that cotton waste left on an engine exhaust started the blaze. The incident is unusual in the history of a structure normally associated with water storage.
Historical records
Colchester Heritage Explorer: water tower ↗ · Mersea memories: local fires ↗