44 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



William and Mary, which has been already quoted, after 

 describing the Ring, says, " The rest of the park is 

 green, and full of deer ; there are large ponds with fish 

 and fowle." The work of draining the ponds and 

 forming a river was begun in October 1730, under the 

 direction of Charles Withers, Surveyor-General of the 

 Woods and Forests. The cost of the large undertaking 

 was supposed to come out of the Queen's privy purse, 

 and it was not until after her death that it was found 

 that Walpole had supplemented it out of the public 

 funds. The West Bourne supplied the new river with 

 sufficient water for some hundred years, after which new 

 arrangements had to be made, as the stream had become 

 too foul. The water supply now comes from two 

 sources — one a well 400 feet deep at the west end of 

 the Serpentine, where the formal fountains and basins 

 were made, about 1861, in front of the building of Italian 

 design covering the well. The sculptured vases and 

 balustrade with sea-horses are by John Thomas. The 

 water in the well stands 172 feet below the ground level, 

 and the depth is continually increasing. It is pumped 

 up to the " Round Pond," and descends by gravity. 

 The second supply comes from a well 28 feet deep in 

 the gravel on " Duck Island," in St. James's Park. The 

 water, which is 19 feet below the surface, remains con- 

 stant, that level being the same as the water-bearing 

 stratum of the Thames valley in London. It is pumped 

 up to the Serpentine, and returns to the lake in St. 

 James's Park, supplying the lake in the gardens of Buck- 

 ingham Palace on the way. The deep well provides 

 about 120,000 gallons, and the shallow about 100,000 

 a day. The " Round Pond " — which, by the way, is 

 not round — affords the greatest delight to the owners. 



