Historic water tower to be restored as Yorkshire brass band rehearsal space

The Grade II-Listed water tower – with its 5,000-gallon tank on the roof – was built in 1839 to supply water to steam locos from the 1840s.

Built even before the city's main railway station, it has fallen into considerable disrepair over recent years but plans have been approved for a new lease of life.

Network Rail is to restore the water tower, and York Council has passed the plans, to create a new base for the York Railway Institute Band with a second unit available to let.

Mike Stancliffe, Network Rail principal development manager, said the Queen Street site was historically associated with the development of the railways.

It's a setting "well suited" to re-house the band practice room, as the club already uses it for educational and recreational activities.

“The water tower is of considerable historical interest," he said. "It is currently in a poor condition but it’s a striking building and can still have a big future.

"Providing the band room here means they won’t have to move very far at all, while also preserving an important piece of York’s railway heritage.”

The early Victorian-era building sits within the multi-million-pound York Station Frontage transformation project.

This wider scheme requires the demolition of the band’s rehearsal space – just next door – and the provision of an alternative.

Chris Smith, trustee of the York Railway Institute charity, said teams have been working with Network Rail on the project for several years.

"Hopefully we can agree terms for a new lease which will enable the scheme to proceed and breathe life back into an important listed building," he said.

"If we can finalise the lease, it will secure the long-term future of the three RI bands.”

Planning permission and listed building consent has been granted for the restoration work. The next step is to outline a full funding package and appoint contractors to start on the work.

Planners have pledged that elements of the water tower that will need replacing, both inside and out, will be repaired like-for-like to meet conservation standards.