# The hidden tower!!!herts



## lutonman12 (Aug 25, 2008)

Whilst taking a short cut through a rural estate a couple of weeks ago i spotted off in the distance the top of a "building" that i had nt seen before.
Obviously this got me thinking!!!(as these things do!!)
So after an hour on google earth(seriously this was not easy to find!!)and two sore eyes later i found what i was looking for!!
So i hadnt dreamt it!!lol
Then onto the internet for a bit of research gotta be loads of info surely??
Not really!!!An old map confirmed what id seen on G/E!!
Surely a place this big wouldnt be "derelict" or "forgotten"??

So yesterday me and prendy79 went for the big explore!!This place is so hidden you dont know its there till your right on top of it!!
This was the first clue!!lol








Then after a bit of woodland trekking













Could nt believe it there it was !!!And this place is huge!!!!






























A piece of one of the eaves from the roof!!!watch your head!!!







There was a pump house too,but it was a little bit overgrown!!!






Would you?????








Bit of a shame we didnt get inside but managed to get the cam in for a few shots!!
note the original herringbone flooring joists!!!!they dont make em like that anymore!!



















How thick are the walls??!!!







A couple of shots from the less"hidden" side!!!












So there it is !!!I was amazed at how anything this big just gets forgotten or lost!!!
And it just goes to show if you keep your eyes open its all out there for the taking!!!lol
A good day for it!!!


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## DarkPlace (Aug 25, 2008)

That must have been an exciting find!

I'd love to get into that place, although I'd feel nervous about those old floorboards up top


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## DogRecon (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks like a watertower, but to supply water where?Great find though


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## Dirus_Strictus (Aug 25, 2008)

Very nice, you have found a good example of a Victorian water tower. Must have been a grand sight when it was new. Have you found any evidence of the habitation/buildings that it served? Did the estate belong to a large country house that is still standing or has it all gone?


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## DarkPlace (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks to me like a folly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly



> They have no purpose other than as an ornament. Often they have some of the appearance of a building constructed for a particular purpose, but this appearance is a sham.


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## fishcake (Aug 25, 2008)

realy nice photos!


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## Seahorse (Aug 25, 2008)

If it's a folly, why the pipework? Nah, deffo a water tower.


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## stesh (Aug 25, 2008)

*Water Tower*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tower


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## lutonman12 (Aug 25, 2008)

defo not a folly its a victorian water tower hence the tank on top we think it supplied the surrounding fields.


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## projectzip (Aug 25, 2008)

lutonman12 said:


> defo not a folly its a victorian water tower hence the tank on top we think it supplied the surrounding fields.



hey dude hit me up with a google or flash earth link via pm
Cheers


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## Dirus_Strictus (Aug 26, 2008)

lutonman12 said:


> defo not a folly its a victorian water tower hence the tank on top we think it supplied the surrounding fields.



The Victorians did some strange things, but this looks rather big for just an agricultural supply. Does your old map indicate any other buildings in the area, a small estate village maybe? One would expect a structure of this sort, being built to provide a water supply to a large building. If it was just for irrigation, somebody had very deep pockets - any ideas on who owned the land in the Victorian era?


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## Foxylady (Aug 26, 2008)

Great to just come across something when out and about, isn't it! That's a really nice find. Good stuff.


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## King Al (Aug 26, 2008)

Interesting find lutonman12, I would like to know what it was supplying though... would a Victorian underground weapons lab complex be out of the question...?


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## Engineer (Aug 26, 2008)

*Water Tower*

Looking at the map I think it is just one of the many water towers around that part of the country.
There also seem to be many underground reservoirs in the area.


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## prendy79 (Aug 27, 2008)

This was another good day out (although we didn't find any underground stylee which is what i was kinda hoping for).

Couldn't believe how well hidden it was considering the size of it, but one of the best random finds we've had.

No grand houses within reasonable distance just fields so not sure what it's use was.

Pics came out nice lutonman12, good to see the inside as it was too dark to see much by eye....

Might have to do a re-visit soon mate,see if we can get some inside pics.


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## mystery-t (Aug 28, 2008)

lutonman12 said:


> Whilst taking a short cut through a rural estate a couple of weeks ago i spotted off in the distance the top of a "building" that i had nt seen before.
> Obviously this got me thinking!!!(as these things do!!)
> So after an hour on google earth(seriously this was not easy to find!!)and two sore eyes later i found what i was looking for!!
> So i hadnt dreamt it!!lol
> ...



Wicked find..theres something like that out on the way to weleyn garden city..but i think its an old church?


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## krela (Aug 28, 2008)

Railway water tower?


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## fire*fly (Aug 28, 2008)

cool find...shame it was locked


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## Andyj23uk (Aug 30, 2008)

i watched a teevee prog about a ` similar ` water tower that was converted into a home [ at gret effort and expense ] that one had a huge wellshaft below it 

i you cannot go up - see if you can go down


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## freebird (Aug 30, 2008)

Wow what a nice find! What a pity you couldn't get access. Keep your eye on it!


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## ukmayhem (Sep 1, 2008)

Awesome find guys i'll have to head over Luton soon and go out with you boys as you always seem to find goos explores.


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## hales28 (Sep 8, 2008)

amazing - well done guys!


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## huffhuff (Mar 20, 2009)

Great find - i'll have to put my thinking cap onto where it is 

I'm just outside Hitchin and it seems vaguely familiar...


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## Black Shuck (Mar 20, 2009)

Nice find. Those Victorian Towers are becoming more and more rare these days. It is almost definetly either a Victorian Water Tower or an Accumulator tower.


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## whostolemymonkey (Mar 22, 2009)

Great find, and not a bit off grafitti which is rare for luton. This may have been a water tower for the Luton Hoo estate of it is that side of Luton.


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## Mr Sam (Mar 22, 2009)

thats animpressive tower, someone get up there!

BTW, is there any need to quote the entire first post, just takes longer to load the pics up twice


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## godzilla73 (Mar 22, 2009)

I wonder if this is the one you can see from the M25....?


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## spacepunk (Mar 22, 2009)

Nice find there mate.
Gotta be water related.


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## herts digger (Mar 29, 2009)

what a brilliant find mate,as mentioned before,I'm sure I have seen it ,cant think where,good pics of the pipes and valves,was the pump still there? it must have been huge,if it was I dont suppose you noticed what make it was,its another passion of mine,old water pumps.Its all there to be found ,so keep searching.


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## Engineer (Mar 29, 2009)

herts digger said:


> was the pump still there?



The pump will probably be somewhere else at a lower level, possibly along the River Ver.


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## herts digger (Mar 31, 2009)

*water pump*

Yeah,cheers engineer,you're probably right,that gives us something else to find.


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## ricasso (Mar 31, 2009)

krela said:


> Railway water tower?



Way to tall for a railway watertower.


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## ricasso (Mar 31, 2009)

How about some idea of the location,it might give some indication of its purpose.


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 4, 2009)

So....where is it then?

Let us know so some of us can explore properly....


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## sheep21 (Apr 10, 2009)

great find there!

did this old map you find have any building on it? Also on google earth anything that looks like a raised embankment or cuttings, if so, could have been railway related?


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 10, 2009)

as already mentioned, its too tall to be a railway tower.


Anyone know where abouts it is? Just a rough idea would be a good start. This was originally posted in August last year!! been a while.....


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## herts digger (Apr 10, 2009)

Popped along to Lutonmans tower recently with ricasso just to get a couple of pics ,just to confirm what an impressive building it is.Hope you dont mind me posting a couple of pics on your thread,your secret is safe with us!


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## jacquelinej61 (Apr 10, 2009)

Andyj23uk said:


> i watched a teevee prog about a ` similar ` water tower that was converted into a home [ at gret effort and expense ] that one had a huge wellshaft below it
> 
> i you cannot go up - see if you can go down



I saw that program as well and it was Kevin McLoud's "Grand Designs" the present owner has restored to live in...Just amazing.


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## LutEx (Apr 10, 2009)

That _really _needs climbing


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## herts digger (Apr 10, 2009)

rather you than me mate!


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## vogelport (Apr 10, 2009)

jacquelinej61 said:


> I saw that program as well and it was Kevin McLoud's "Grand Designs" the present owner has restored to live in...Just amazing.



I saw that too, and although i'm all for preserving these beautiful old structures I don't think there was much left of the tower once they had done. They build under it and round it and through it and over it, by the time they were done it didnt even resemble a water tower. might as well have just built it from scratch.


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## TheLondoners (Apr 10, 2009)

LutEx said:


> That _really _needs climbing



I couldn't agree more.


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 11, 2009)

Let me know where abouts it is, and it shall be done.


Too many people trying to "keep secrets." Its an old building, not your bank details....

yet another place that doesn't get fully explored due to people wanting to keep it "secret." Well done.


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## jonney (Apr 11, 2009)

Great find mate, very ornate water tower


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 11, 2009)

Its lovely. If only we knew where it was!


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## TheLondoners (Apr 11, 2009)

Jazzy_Jefferson said:


> Its lovely. If only we knew where it was!


You, me and 99% of everyone on this forum!


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 11, 2009)

Indeed......


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## ricasso (Apr 11, 2009)

Jazzy,
You said in an earlier post that you wanted to "explore it properly" what does that mean?to gain access to the inside you would need to break the locks on the door, the nearest windows are probably 50 feet high,
unless you own a helicopter you aint gonna get in!
the original explorer,lutonman,wants to keep the location private,having seen it I can understand why,I think you will find that on this forum respect for other members wishes goes a long way.


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 11, 2009)

ricasso said:


> I think you will find that on this forum respect for other members wishes goes a long way.



That goes 2 ways.....

And its always good to get a fresh "pair of eyes" on something, cos i might see something you didn't, and vice-versa.

I dont think the location of this tower will be revealed anytime soon, so.....thanks for denying other people the opportunity to enjoy the same as you. 

That all said, its an abandoned tower building....so who really cares if people know its location? At least on here the people will go and look at it properly, rather than just vandalise it.


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## ricasso (Apr 11, 2009)

Jazzy_Jefferson said:


> That goes 2 ways.....
> 
> And its always good to get a fresh "pair of eyes" on something, cos i might see something you didn't, and vice-versa.
> 
> ...



You seem to forget,this was not my original explore,im only respecting Lutonmans decision, if any one is gonna reveal it it will be him.
as for "thanks for denying other people the opportunity to enjoy the same as you" I think its safe to say
you wont make many friends with that attitude.

I would suggest possibly buying some maps and putting in some internet research time if you want to locate 
some interesting sites,like 99.9% of other members


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 13, 2009)

Yes, investment in maps, and google etc. etc. are all things I do.

Sadly, these things rely on having a rough idea of where to search, the UK is a big place. Herts/Beds requires more than 1 map, sadly I don't own them all. 

And im not here to make friends, Im here to do some exploring of interesting things.

As for it being Lutonmans decision....the guy hasnt been on here since last year! so....make of that what you will, in my eyes, that suggests he isn't too fussed regarding this tower.


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## ricasso (Apr 13, 2009)

Jazzy_Jefferson said:


> Yes, investment in maps, and google etc. etc. are all things I do.
> 
> Sadly, these things rely on having a rough idea of where to search, the UK is a big place. Herts/Beds requires more than 1 map, sadly I don't own them all.
> 
> ...



Have to say,Im not surprised you got kicked of 28dl, and with respect I have nothing further to say on the matter.
Look forward to seeing you first explore.


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## Black Shuck (Apr 13, 2009)

Well said Ric, Nearly all of us have to research 90 per cent of the Locations we document. After putting in all the hard work you cannot be blamed for not revealing a location!, and to say it spoils someone elses enjoyment is a crass statement and disrespectful to their work. In short an attempt to steal someones thunder when they cannot be bothered to find somewhere for themselves! Rant over!


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## Jazzy_Jefferson (Apr 13, 2009)

If you can show me the hard work and research done into this, then fair enough. The original poster, from what i read, found it on a walk, then spent an hour on google. Thats hardly well researched is it? 

Cant be bothered to find anywhere myself? I have found plenty, and been to plenty, all my reports were on 28dayslater, I have no idea if they are still there, but have a look.

Maybe I just dont care enough to understand your points, all i wanna do is go photograph some cool stuff. Thats clearly too much to ask.


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