18^0.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



TI 



In 1 1"3m water was brought from Tyl)OnniP to comluits in Fleet 

 Strpot and Alilcrnianbiiry, and from Highbury to a concbut o])i)osite 

 Cripplogat.e cliiirch. 



In 1 V.i'.) thp Abluit of Wpstminstor grantpd the City one hpad of 

 wator, containing abont SUO sqnaro yards, or thp sixtli of an acre, fo- 

 gptlipr with all its springs in the manor of Paddington, ;;ronc/i'/ the 

 intended wurlc did not (Iraw the water from tlie aneient wells in the 

 manor of llida; showing bv this proviso that fo\n- hnndred years back 

 it was <liscovered tlial any great dranght from one well wonld be likely 

 to leave the other neighbouring wells dry. This grant was contirmed 

 by Henry the Sixth in 11-11 ; and other .advantages were granted by a 

 writ of Frivv Comicil, to enable the citizens to bring water by means 

 of leaden pipes \mder the ground for "above three miles" to a conduit 

 in ('lieapsid(>, which was erected in ])lacp of the old one at the Cross, 

 which Cross was also re-edified at the same time; and thi.s conduit 

 was used as a reservoir for the supply of other conduits. The water 

 was conveyed from the springs to cisterns at Tybourne, from tlience to 

 Charing Cross, and thence to the City. 



In 1443 a new conduit was erected ncxr St. Paul's Gate, at the up[ier 

 end of Cheapside. 



In tlie 0\A 13ailey, a little lower than the Sessions House, was a large 

 cistern with divers cocks, which received the waste water from the 

 prison of Ludgate, for the use of tlie neighbouring inhabitants. 



In 1471 a fresh supply of water was brought liy leaden pipes from 

 Tybourne to a conduit erected in Fleet Street, at the end of Shoe 

 Lane, and to other conduits, for the benefit of the])eo])le; viz. " for 

 .the poor to drink, the rich to dress their meat." 



In 117s a cistern was added to this conduit to hold tlie waste water, 

 and another at Fleet Bridge. 



In 1401 a conduit was erected in Grasse (o» Gracechnrcli) Street. 

 In l4i>S a conduit was erected at Oldbouriie Cross, and was again 

 new made in 1577 by William Lamb, citizen, who having drawn toge- 

 ther several springs of water into a head at the up|)er end of Ued 

 Lion Street, which was called Lamb's Conduit, conveye<l the same to 

 a conduit on Snow Hill, by a leaden pipe 2IX)0 yanls long. 



In Ijll'.t a stone conduit was erected in the Stocks Market wdlich 

 stood at the north comer of Wallbrook. 



Aljout the year la 13 a conduit was erected in Bishopsgate Street. 

 About the year l.VJS a conduit was erected at LoniUm Wall. 

 In l.'>3.j water was brought from Hackney to a conduit ere<teil in 

 Aldgate. 



In 1543, notwithstanding the vast expense the citizens had been at 

 in bringing water to, and erecting conduits in, the City, the supply 

 was very ineUicient; and an Act was passed in theolst (d Henry Vlll. 

 empowering them to bring water from Hampstead Heath, St. Mary le 

 Bon Hackney, and Muswell Hill, upon their compensating the owners 

 of laixl for damage done by digging or otherwise. 



In I54(> water was conveyeil in great abundance from divers springs 

 Iving between Hoxtun and Islington to a handsome condtiit erected at 

 tlie west em\ of St. Margaret's church, L(Hhbuiy. 



The Charter House was supplied from White Conduit Fields; 

 Christ's Hospital, from Hie Devil's Conduit, north-east of Brunswick 

 Square. 



Stow mentions amongst the remarkables in the City of London a 

 well at Aldgate curbed with stone of a great depth, ami rising into a 

 house two stories from the ground, wdiich is peculiar, "for I have not 

 seen tlw like in all this City to be raised so high." 



There were other C(mduits of less note than those now enumerated, 

 and wells witk buckets or pumps in Threadneedle Street, Leadeuhall 

 Street, S;c. 



Sir John Evelyn writes that about the accession of Quv-en Elizabeth, 

 in 1558, the waters of Dame-Annis-the-Clear Spring at Hoxtou were 

 called to the breweries in London, at an expensi; of sou/, per annum ; 

 and alHjut the same time wells were dug and pumps erected in every 

 corner of tlie City and suburbs. 



Ifakr raised/mm tlie Thames hy Machinery. 



Ill 15tj8 a conduit was erected near the top of Dowgate Hill, w hich 

 was supplied with Thames water by means of a giiiii, or machine fur 

 raising water, fixed iifar the river, — most probably what is termed a 

 horse-wheel. 



Tliis appears to have been the iirst machine used in London for 

 raising water for Uie su|)ply of the public to a higher level than could 

 be dcjiie by the common pump. 



Thus it ajipears that London was supjilied, first, hy running brooks 

 and springs, and secondly, when thes<' failed, oy water brought from 

 a distance through leadf^u pipes, the sources being at a sutiicieiit ele- 

 vation to allow the wat<>r to run into the conduits. In a few instances 

 ttie waste water from .these conduits ran into cistems adjacent to theWj 



for common or public use; but water was of too much value at that 

 time to allow this to be done generally, and in cases of fire the supply 

 was miserably deficient, which, togetlier with the ci.cuiustance of tim- 

 ber being the common material used in the buildings, accounts for the 

 number of destructive fires in ancient times. 



Although bringing water by means of pipes from distant sources 

 was a great improvement, so far as respected an increased iprintity; 

 nevertheless, the inconvenience and expense of carrying it from tlie 

 conduits to each house still existed, and it was not until the erection 

 of the Lonilou Bridge Water-works, in 15S-2, that this dilliculty was 

 overcome, when the |irinciple of conveying water into dwelling-houses 

 by means of small load-pipi's was adopted ; this, the greatest improve- 

 ment in the mode of sup|ilying water, by substituting the power of 

 machinery for human drudgery, has not been surpasseil, and is the 

 plan now used, two centuries and a half after its first introduction; 

 improvements have been made in the practice of it, — ^the principle 

 remains unaltered. 



London Bridgi TVakr-ii'orks. 



In l.')Sl, or 1. '582, Peter Maurice, a Dutchman, obtained a lease of 

 the City of the first arch of London Bridge, on the North side, and 

 erected a water-wheel, to be worked by the tide, and a set of force 

 ]mmps to raise Thames water for the supply of the neighbourhood. 

 The water was raised to the top of a wooden building I'Jo feet high, 

 and passed from thejice through pipes to supply the dwelling-houses 

 in Thames Street, New Fish .Sirei't Hill, and Gracechurch Street, as 

 far as a Standard on Cornhill, wliic'h was erected in the middle of the 

 street where the four ways meet. The water which was to spare, 

 after supplying the beforenamed streets, flowed from the Standard 

 through four pipes branching to Bishojisgate, Aldgate, the Bridge, 

 and Wallbrook, which supplied Ills dwelling-houses in the neighbour- 

 hood, and cleansed the gutters in these streets. The site of the Stan- 

 danl was supposed to be the highest ground in the City. The (juantity 

 of water raised was equal to about 3, 17o,0;tO imperial barrels per 

 annum, or an average ipiantity of 2 Hi gallons per minute, or about 

 5ths per cent, of the quantity raised by the water-works for the sup])ly 

 of the Metropolis at present. There were 111 pumps worked by this 

 wheel, each 7 inches diameter ami 30 inches stroke. Mr. Smeaton 

 ascertained from registers that the juimps made 3025 strokes jier 

 tide; and, as there are 70S titles per annum, (allowing one-fifth tor 

 loss through the valves, according to Dr. Desagulier's statements,) the 

 quantity raised may be calculated. Imin-ovemenfs, however, had been 

 made before the above purticnlars of the pumps were imblished, and 

 therefore the quantity given will be the extreme probable quantity 

 raised in 15S2. 



In 15s3 or 1581 machinery was fixed in the second arch. 

 Improvements were maile and the works continued in Maurice's 

 family until l7ol, when thpy were sold, (after an engagement had been 

 made with the (,'ity for a lease of the fourth arch,) to Richard Soams, 

 citizen and gohlsmith, for 3i'>,000.'. Soams formed a company, and 

 divided the property into 300 shares of 5U0/. each. In 17iil ma- 

 chinery was erected in the third arch; in 17G7 machinery was erected 

 in the lifth arch, and alsn in the second arch from the Surrey side lor 

 the supply of the Borough. The large wheel erected in the firth arch 

 by Mr. Smeaton was added in consequence of tlie reduction in the fall 

 of water occasioned by enlarging the water-way under the bridge 

 when two arches were" thrown into one. And aliiuit this time an at- 

 nuispheric engine was eriM'tcd of tun horses' power to assist the wheels 

 at neap tides," and as a safeguard in case of fire happening in the City 

 at the turn of the tide, when the wdieels, of course, could not work. 



In consequence of the City being obliged to pen up the water to 

 work the wheels, according to an Act passed in 175(1, in the 2'.lth of 

 George 11., the blocking up of t"lie arches became such a nuisance to 

 the navigation of the Thames, that an Act was obtained in 1822, the 

 3.rd of George IV., for the removal of the London Bridge Water- 

 w'orks, and they were removed accordingly, and the district was sup- 

 lilied bv other companies, chieily by tlie New River At the time of 

 the des'truetion of these works the number of tenants was 10,4 17, and 

 the quantity of water raised by them was eq\ial to 39,481,000 barrels 

 per annum, or 2704 gallons per minute ; showing an increase ecpial to 

 twelve times tlie quantity liist raised in 1582 by Peter Maurice. 



In 1583 two conduits for Thames water were erected near to Old 

 Fish Street Hill. 



In 1594, for the better supply of the City, Bevis Bulmar erected a 

 large horse-engine and four pumps at Broken Wharf, to raise Thames 

 water for the inhabitants of Clieap.si<lp, St. Paul's Churchyard, Fleet 

 Street, &c., which, MaitlamI says, was removed previous to the date 

 of his worl<^ 175H, on aceoimt of other companies being able to supply 

 water at a cheaper rate. 



