See my review… “Carshalton Water Tower” (London)

Location. Nearest station: Carshalton. Exit station and walk south along West Street. As you reach this brick wall, keep walking and an entrance will cut you through.

A five-minute walk in total.

(Since you’re already here, you can also visit the Honeywood Museum, a four-minute walk away at the other side of West Street.)

Before you visit. The Carshalton Water Tower opens on Sundays and only during the summer. (And that is why it has taken me a year to bring myself here since my first (incomplete) expedition to the Sutton Borough.)

Double check its opening time before any rash decision.

Glimpse: “Carshalton Water Tower” (London)

When you’re going to visit a water tower, you might naturally be expecting slimy stuff and moulds and perhaps smells brewing for centuries and beyond. That’s how we might summarize it for every old water site – remember the Coombe Conduit (one of the most obscure major attractions in London by the way), and the City of Caves in Nottingham, or perhaps East London’s House Mill.

And they’re all offering authentic experiences, musty nonetheless, but always rich in history and narrative.

And now here’s one that offers none of these inconveniences. For while Carshalton Water Tower has been pumping for Sir John Fellowes’ home (i.e. Carshalton House) since the early 1700s and well into the twentieth century, it has since been through a series of urban-planning adventures by becoming a church and then a nursery followed by a school and now an event venue.

So so much of the water-pumping has gone. You can still imagine what it’s like back in the days by visiting the top of the tower as well as the waterwheel, ground floor.

Clip: “Carshalton Water Tower” (London)

What to see: Elaborate bathroom. The design is unique with nothing similar in the country. Check out the hand-drawn floral tiles.

(The Carshalton House is now a Catholic school located at the other end of the lawn. You can join the tower’s guided tour to at least get a glimpse of it.)


Time is asset: save it for better with 25-min museum tours. Or find yourself in my novel, check out the photo of the day and finish it off with a secret prize.

Tags - in_depth_tourism; museum; London_writer; London_travel; indie_writer; independent_blogger