Colchester’s “Jumbo” secures £8 million grant from National Lottery Heritage Fund

All of us at Create are delighted to hear that Colchester’s Balkerne Water Tower has secured an £8m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is part of a £27 million fund allocated to save seven lesser-known UK heritage buildings.

The Grade II-listed structure, which is affectionately referred to as “Jumbo” by the locals due to its sheer size, has been a fixture of the city’s skyline since 1883. It is the mission of North Essex Heritage to save Jumbo from dereliction and see it removed from the Buildings At Risk register.

The restored building will become a commercially viable operation that opens access to the public allowing all to appreciate the engineering marvel and superb views. It will bring the magnificent Balkerne Water Tower back into use, creatively converting it to provide a fully accessible heritage visitor attraction for the city, combined with complementary commercial uses.

We have been providing multidisciplinary technical services and specialist advice as part of a project team led by Purcell, who are acting as the Lead Designer, Architect, and Heritage Consultant. Our Acoustics team were appointed in 2023, followed by our Transport & Highways team in early 2024. So far we have provided a variety of technical requirements including a Plant Noise Assessment and Transport Assessment.

The planning application was submitted in October 2024 with a decision due early this year. If the project goes ahead, work to the tower is expected to take several years to complete and will present the appointed contractor with a number of logistical challenges due to the age of the building and its central location.

Jumbo is the largest Victorian municipal water tower in England. It stands 34.5m tall and is estimated to include more than 1.2 million bricks. We are looking forward to seeing how “Jumbo” progresses.