Cranhill Water Tower

There are three large water towers brooding over the Cranhill district of Glasgow. It’s hard not to look at them and be reminded of something from H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds but rest assured: these aren’t alien aircraft, they’re extremely functional water towers.  

One water tower in particular is rather unique due to its unusual square shape. It was built in 1951 by FA Macdonald and partners to pump water from nearby Loch Katrine into the tower, which is then released into local homes via gravity. 

As it is such a prominent feature, a project to artfully illuminate the structure at night successfully ran from 1999 to 2002 but was too expensive to continue. A new scheme to light the tower up again was switched on by Bob Winter, Lord Provost of Glasgow, in 2009 using low-energy LED bulbs that run through a system of colors.

At the base of the tower are some water-related sculptures entitled “Project Neptune” by artist Andy Scott. Three sirens, Poseidon, and a mermaid add to this unusual attraction. There is also a fish with a ring in its mouth, part of the city’s coat of arms. Andy is a Scottish sculptor most known for creating the Kelpies.