66 ON TREE-TRUNK WATER-PIPES. 



some brief notes "On Ancient Water Pipes " by Mr. H. Syer 

 Cuming, in which the following passage occurs : — 



'* The Romans, like ourselves, employed three materials in the manufactm-e of 

 their ordinary ]Mping for the conveyance of water, namely wood, earthenware, and 

 metal. Pliny (XVI. -42) records that the pine, fir, and alder were wrought into 

 water jiipes. and that wlien bedded in the earth they lasted for many years, and 

 that their resistance to decay was greatly increased if the outside of the stem was left 

 in contact with the water. I have seen a few examples of hollowed trunks of trees 

 which have been exhumed in London from depths which \vould favour the idea that 

 they were of Roman or Roman-British origin, though there was no direct evidence 

 to fix the period. The Treenpipes found near the Mansion House, within a year or 

 two, were unquestionably of very ancient date." 



Most of Mr. Syer Cuming's remarks are on bamboo, terra 



cotta, lead and leather pipes. But he adds : — 



" There are yet points in the history of these conduits which it would be well 

 to learn a little respecting, as for instance, when was the folded tube of lead 

 superseded by one cast as a cylinder, and when was the huge Treen pipe 

 abandoned for one of iron." 



He also remarks in a note, p. 186 : — 



" I have been told that iron water pipes began to be laid down in London 

 about forty years since. The old elm tree pipes were removed from Pall Mall 

 about the year i860, and in part of Piccadilly they remained in use till 1864." 



Of course the difficulty is to make sure that the pipes were in 

 use, and not merely in place, in 1864. 



On searching Notes and Queries, I could find nothing about 

 wooden water pipes previous to 1899. But in the number for 

 June 10, 1899, there is the following paragraph from the Daily 

 Telegvaphoi May 8th, 1899 • — 



" Ancient Water-Pipes. — During the progress of some excavations along 

 Oxford Street, east of ISIarble Arch, the workmen recently came upon quite a 

 number of the ancient wooden pipes formerly used to convey water through the 

 streets of London. They consist of small elm trees, usually about ten or twelve 

 inches in diameter, cut into six or seven feet lengths, and were laid down in the 



early days of the New River Water Company Elm was used as it 



was lound to resist the pressure of the water better than any other cheap timber, 

 and was less liable to decay. The pipes were of the rudest construction, being 

 simply the trees denuded of their bark and bored with a hole six inches in 

 diameter. One end of each length was tapered to fit into the slightly widened 

 bore of the length laid before it, and a few blows of a wooden mallet served to fix 

 it into its place. The pipes were very troublesome. They were liable to burst 

 during frosts, they leaked considerably, and they had to be frequently renewed. 

 Nearly four hundred miles of them were laid in London, and as it was not worth 

 the trouble to take them up when they were gradually replaced by metal pipes, 

 there must be many scores of miles of them still underground. 



