ST9897 : Water Tank, Kemble Station
taken 4 years ago, near to Kemble, Gloucestershire, England

Listed buildings and structures are officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There are over half a million listed structures in the United Kingdom, covered by around 375,000 listings.
Listed status is more commonly associated with buildings or groups of buildings, however it can cover many other structures, including bridges, headstones, steps, ponds, monuments, walls, phone boxes, wrecks, parks, and heritage sites, and in more recent times a road crossing (Abbey Road) and graffiti art (Banksy 'Spy-booth') have been included.
In England and Wales there are three main listing designations;
Grade I (2.5%) - exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
Grade II* (5.5%) - particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
Grade II (92%) - nationally important and of special interest.
There are also locally listed structures (at the discretion of local authorities) using A, B and C designations.
In Scotland three classifications are also used but the criteria are different. There are around 47,500 Listed buildings.
Category A (8%)- generally equivalent to Grade I and II* in England and Wales
Category B (51%)- this appears generally to cover the ground of Grade II, recognising national importance.
Category C (41%)- buildings of local importance, probably with some overlap with English Grade II.
In Northern Ireland the criteria are similar to Scotland, but the classifications are:
Grade A (2.3%)
Grade B+ (4.7%)
Grade B (93%)
Read more at Wikipedia Link
Written by Brian Robert Marshall
The line, also known as the Golden Valley Line, dates back to the early days of railway development in the 19th century. The first section, from Cheltenham to Gloucester, opened in 1840. In 1841 a line was opened from Swindon Junction to Cirencester via Kemble. Then in 1845 a line from Kemble to Gloucester was opened (Kemble became a junction in its own right with branches to Cirencester to the east, and Tetbury to the west both of which closed on the 1960s). At one time there were twenty stations or halts between Cheltenham, at the northern end of the line, and its terminus at Swindon. Now only six remain open (Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stonehouse, Stroud, Kemble and Swindon). In 1968, the hitherto twin track line was butchered by the then British Rail (under a Labour government) and the stretch between Swindon and Kemble was singled (the plan had been to single the entire section between Swindon and Stonehouse but protests led to the abandonment of the project once it had reached Kemble leaving the section from Kemble north to Stonehouse still a twin track). Proposals to restore the twin track between Kemble and Swindon were made in 2008 but were kicked into the long grass by the Office of Rail Regulation (again under a Labour government). Thankfully the Coalition government that took office in 2010 revived the moribund proposal and announced in 2011 that the project could go ahead. Work on the £45m project started in July 2013 and was expected to be completed by Easter 2014. However, on 07 February 2014 Network Rail announced that completion of the project would be put back until August 2014 because "The very high volume of works during Easter nationally, coupled with ongoing remedial work from flooding earlier this year, means our engineering resources will now be operating at full capacity during one of the busiest phases of the Swindon to Kemble redoubling scheme.
"To minimise risk to the work, and avoid the possibility of unnecessary inconvenience to customers, we are now working towards completing the scheme between Swindon and Kemble by August 2014 rather than Easter as originally planned." Anecdotal evidence suggests that the local residents are looking forward to a considerable hike in property values as the increased rail traffic that will be enabled by the doubling of the line will make the all-important London Paddington destination even more accessible.
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A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system for the distribution of drinkable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection.
Wikipedia: Link![]()
Kemble station serves the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire. The station is on the Swindon to Gloucester "Golden Valley" line. The station opened in 1882.
Grade II listed. Link![]()
Wikipedia: Link![]()