York Buildings Water Tower

You are standing near the site of one of the most distinctive landmarks of eighteenth-century London. The York Buildings Water Tower rose seventy feet above the north bank of the Thames, an octagonal wooden structure that dominated the skyline near Charing Cross. It was built around 1698 to provide pressurized water to the homes of the wealthy in the West End. Steam power pushed heavy weights to the top of the tower to create the necessary force to send water through elmwood mains buried beneath the streets. While it began as a practical piece of modern infrastructure, it quickly became a famous fixture in the city, celebrated for its unique shape and curious windows. It appeared in countless paintings and engravings of the period, serving as a landmark for artists who captured the evolving face of the riverfront.