Glasgow, Prince's Dock, 'four Winds' Hydraulic Power Station
Hydraulic Accumulator Tower (19th Century), Hydraulic Power Station (19th Century)
Site Name Glasgow, Prince's Dock, 'four Winds' Hydraulic Power Station
Classification Hydraulic Accumulator Tower (19th Century), Hydraulic Power Station (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Prince's Dock, Pumping Station; Govan Road, Mavisbank Road; River Clyde; Tower Of The Winds
Canmore ID 107759
Site Number NS56NE 208
NGR NS 56908 65009
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/107759
- Council Glasgow, City Of
- Parish Govan (City Of Glasgow)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District City Of Glasgow
- Former County Lanarkshire
Tower of the Winds, Govan Road, Mavisbank Road, 1894, John Burnet, Son & Campbell
Hydraulic Pump House, the former Prince's Dock Hydraulic Power Station. Romanesque corbelled cornice atop tall pump room. Castellated tower, another water accumulator, with original hydraulic equipment. Stump, a mere third, of the octagonal brick chimney, crowned with red ashlar sculpted frieze of the 'Four Winds'. Converted to office use, c.2005.
Taken from "Greater Glasgow: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Sam Small, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NS56NE 208 56908 65009
For Prince's Dock (NS 5620 6493 to NS 5684 6503) and subsidiary buildings, see NS56SE 87.00.
Hydraulic Pumping Station, Prince's Dock, built 1894 for the Clyde Navigation Trust to designs by Burnet, Son and Campbell. The pump-house itself is a high, single storey, 6-bay red-brick building, with a plain frontage to the dock, and a decorated front to Mavisbank Road. At the N end, is a slendid accumulator tower, with elaborate corbelling, in the style of an Italian campanile. At the S end, there is the stump of an octagonal chimney in the form of 'Tower of the Winds', with sculptured panels forming a frieze. SDD category B.
J R Hume 1975
This building was used as a bar during the Garden Festival. It is now disused.
(RCAHMS photographic survey 1996).
Visited by RCAHMS (MKO) 25 September 1996.
This building extends over the grid line between OS 1:1250 map sheets NS5665SE and NS5664NE. The former (in an edition of 1951) notes it as El Sub-sta [NAT]; the latter (in an edition of 1962) notes a Chy [NAT] at NS 56903 64976.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 15 February 2006.
Project (2007)
This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.
Publication Account (2007)
The hydraulic pumping station designed by J. J. Burnett and J. A. Campbell in 1894, which operated numerous
hydraulic cranes, lifts and pumps, at a pressure of 750 psi obtained from an accumulator with a 20 in. diameter ram and 20 ft stroke has been conserved and serves as a welcome reminder of the project’s grandeur. This station, the dock’s main architectural feature, has at its north end the massive water tower providing the hydraulic head of water to the accumulator, designed in the style of an Italian campanile with ornamental corbelling. At its south end is an octagonal brickwork chimney with eight sculptured panels representing winds, inspired by the Tower of the Winds at Athens.
R Paxton and J Shipway
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
