Adisham Water Tower

Adisham Water Tower is a Grade II listed building located in the parish of Adisham, Kent. The structure was built in 1903 in an Edwardian Italianate Revival style for the Margate Corporation District Waterworks. It is a rectangular tower built in red brick and terracotta with a water tank made of iron. A range of architectural features are described in its site listing and include “pilasters with banded rustication, open arcading with round arches with stone keystones and terracotta decoration above with stone panel bearing date and name of waterworks. One arch to shorter sides, three to longer. Moulded stringcourse between stages. Upper stage is similar but without the rustication and has deep eaves cornice on brackets supporting walkway (with decorative iron railings) around panelled iron tank." The iron water tank is inscribed “Erected by Newton Chambers and Co, Thorncliffe Ironworks Sheffield 1903."

The Water Tower is featured by writer and naturalist Jocelyn Brooke (1908–1966) as a recurring figure in his series of semi-autobiographical novels known as The Orchid Trilogy. It is one of several landmarks that form part of Brooke's mythical portrayal of his relationship with the landscapes of East Kent, which extends from childhood experiences in the early twentieth century to later life after World War II. In The Orchid Trilogy's second book, A Mine of Serpents (first published in 1949), Brooke recounts childhood walks to the Water Tower from the nearby village of Bishopsbourne, "up a chalky lane which wound away over Barham Downs." The Water Tower would disappear from view and reappear several times during the journey; a characteristic of the landmark that Brooke signals throughout the novel:

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