Water tower or Folly in St. Helens, Hastings?

[JackieM]

I am a collector and seller of pre WW1 postcards. I have been given an old postcard album of postcards of Hastings and surrounding areas. There is one postcard which I have spent many hours trying to discover where it is. I looked around St Helens in Lancs and the village of Tidmarsh, but no joy. So I wondered if it was St. Helens in Hastings?
On the reverse of the postcard it says Water Tower, St Helens and Tidmarsh?
If anyone could suggest any ideas where I might find this building, I would be most grateful for any help or information.
Thank you

[Richard]

Hello JackieM,

The tower in the picture is perhaps too small to serve a population of any size.
It is built of local stone, limestone, sandstone or both?
I do not know of any water towers in Hastings, let alone the St. Helens area.
Water needs in the vicinity were generally supplied by building reservoirs.
Settlements on higher ground, as in the case of nearby Rye, needed some sort of water tower and may have been located in the church tower at one time. Churches were usually built on high ground, to prevent the risk of flooding and to be visible to the locals.
The glazed windows on the tower in your postcard image are rather unusual if indeed it was a water tower.
A small ornate and attractive 'tower' of some sort, more likely attached to a country estate, or an outright folly, as you say, although the windows suggest it had some genuine purpose and was not a useless statement of wealth.
Sorry this is just waffle and no answer at all, I will keep looking.

Best,

Richard

[jimbreeds]

Hi,
Interesting to hear from a fellow postcard collector. I have thousands of postcards, all of them are local to Hastings and the surrounding villages. There's no building like that in Hastings. Tidworth is in Berkshire,. Maybe there's a St. Helens in that area. Good luck in your quest.
Jim.

[jimbreeds]

Apologies. I meant Tidmarsh is in Berks, of course. Autocorrect!

[Richard]

JackieM,

Is there a name on the back of the postcard indicating the company who printed it?
Is there any other information on the back?
A company name would make it easier to trace.

[Fjh78]

There is some kind of water tower in Ore Place, St Helens, Hastings. It’s not as tall a structure as the one in question. It’s in the grounds of a very swanky newish house that’s been built on the land which was formerly occupied by Ore Place.

[whiffler]

Sitting in nearby Battle, enjoying lashings of rain and hail, and wondering why anyone round here would have needed a water tower ... especially in the middle of a field.

Those cows don't look local.

[JackieM]

Thank you for all your thoughts and ideas.
How silly of me not to include the reverse of the postcard.
I did wonder if Tidmarsh was a local surname perhaps?
Thanks for your help
Jackie

[whiffler]

The symbol on the old maps for a water tower was - Wr Twr

Have a sniff around the footpaths - FP

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by ... ht=BingHyb

[Richard]

There is no 'St Helens' church in Tidmarsh.
The parish church is named 'St Laurence'.
More mystery!