Perth Water Works

Perth Water Works
The building in 2012
LocationMarshall Place,
Perth, Scotland
Coordinates56°23′32″N 3°25′35″W / 56.392282°N 3.426454°W / 56.392282; -3.426454
Built1832 (193 years ago) (1832)
ArchitectAdam Anderson
Architectural style(s)Neo-classical
Listed Building – Category A
Designated20 May 1965
Reference no.LB39341
Perth Water Works is located in Perth
Perth Water Works
Shown in Perth

Perth Water Works (also known as Corporation Water Works)[1] is an historic building in Perth, Scotland, dating to 1832. Standing at the corner of Tay Street and Marshall Place (both part of the A989), the building, a former engine house and water tank, has been the home of The Fergusson Gallery, displaying the work of John Duncan Fergusson, since 1992. The building is Category A listed. Historic Environment Scotland states that it is one of Scotland's most significant industrial buildings, and that its large-scale cast-iron construction may be the first very first in the world.[2]

Clean water was drawn from filter beds on Moncreiffe Island, in the adjacent River Tay, and pumped beneath the river, by a steam engine, into a 146,000 imperial gallons (660,000 L; 175,000 US gal) holding tank in the building's rotunda.[2]

The building's architect was Adam Anderson, the rector of Perth Academy.[2]

An inscription over the door in the rotunda reads Aquam Igne Et Aqua Haurio ("I draw water by fire and water").[2]

The engine house has a tall Doric columned chimney, capped by a Roman urn (a fibreglass replica of the original, which was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1871).[2]

The building became surplus to requirements in 1965, when the city opened a new water works. It was restored in 1973, for use as a Tourist Information Centre, by James Morris and Robert Steedman, and then converted to its current use nineteen years later. Its dome was reconstructed in 2003 as part of a restoration funded by the Heritage Lottery, Historic Scotland and Perth and Kinross Council.[2]

  • Plaque
    Plaque

See also

References

  1. ^ Official Guide to Perth and Its Neighbourhood by the Tramway Car Routes – Perth Town Council (1907), p. 19
  2. ^ a b c d e f Historic Environment Scotland. "TAY STREET, FORMER PERTH WATER WORKS (Category A Listed Building) (LB39341)". Retrieved 20 October 2021.