12 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[January, 



New Rirtr Head Wakr-mirks. 

 Tli(> £;ri'atest and most splcmliil work tlva) was ever iinilertaken for 

 \\\c su|i"iily of a iiioclern city with water was roniinenced in James the 

 Kir-it's rfip;ii. 



Ill l(ior>, the oril of James the First, tlio sujipiy of water was fomiil 

 t(i lie ina(lei|iiate to the waiit.s of an increased population; and as at 

 lliat time the discovery of the steam-engine had not heen made, it 

 was nocessaiT to seek abroad for more powerful springs of water than 

 had hitherto been discovered, and at a sullicieiit elevation to allow the 

 water to run to London: these were met witli in the neighlionrliood of 

 Hertford, above twenty miles north of London, and the citizens con- 

 ceived the vast plan of bringing these springs by means of a channel to 

 Islington, and for that purpose obtained an Act of Parliament, em- 

 )i(i\\ering them to bring a stream (d' water from the springs of Chad- 

 well ■.iiiA Amwell in the county of Hertford, between the towns of 

 llerl ford and Ware By this Art, ■3rd of James the First, they were 

 I'liipowered to make a "trench, channel, cut, or river" ; the width of 

 the ground to lie purchased, being limited to 10 feet ; and as thesa 

 springs were situated in the valley of the river Lee, and, consequently, 

 ran into the said river, they were bound to comjiensate, not only the 

 owners of ])roperty througli whose lands the river was to be carried, 

 but also, " all such persons as shall sustain any damage, loss, or hind- 

 rance, in their mills standing upon any of the rivers or streams from 

 which the water shall be taken through the said new cut, or river." 

 That this was a proviso of great consequence may be supposed, when 

 at the present day it is stated that one of the springs yields a quantity 

 of water equal to about 3770 imperial gallons per minute, or i\ mil- 

 lions of barrels per annum. 



Surveyors were employed by the City to jdan the execution of the 

 work; but it was discovered that, as the Act limited the width of the 

 property to be purchased to 10 feet, it would be impossible to convey 

 the waters across the hills and valleys to London: the City therefore 

 applied to Parliament again the following year for power to make 

 tunnels, where necessary, either to be laid in the earth or formed upon 

 arches, and an Act was passed accordingly in the 4th of James the 

 First. Even with these additional powers the course of the river was 

 extremely circuitous, being above 4U miles in length. 



Notwithstanding the powers which had been obtained, it appears 

 that the work was not executed until some years after. 



In ItJOS .Sir Hugh Myddleton, citizen ;mil goldsmitli, offered at his 

 own charge to carry the Acts of James into execution; and to this 

 great and enterprising man were the inhabitants of the Metropolis in- 

 debted for one of the greatest blessings that conld be conferred upon 

 any city. 



In IblO the citizens, by an Act of Common Council, made over their 

 powers to Sir Hugh Myddleton; and in 1G12 this Act was confirmed 

 by an indenture. 



The work, however, appears to have been commenced in 1608, and 

 was completed in 1(>13. 



Maitlan<l states that Mr. Henry Mills, the then engineer to the Com- 

 pany, measured the length of the river accurately in 1723, and found 

 il to be 3SJ miles and Hi poles, to which it was reduced by the con- 

 traction of its sinuosities above two miles. 



That there were 215 bridges over il, and that it was carried over 

 two valleys in wooden troughs lined with lead, one at Bush-hill, being 

 GliO feet long and 30 feet high ; and the other at Ilighburv, 402 feet 

 long and 17 feet high. He'fiirtlier says, "As this New River is in 

 some ])laces wafted over hills and vales, so in others, mole-like, it 

 forces its way through subterraneous pass;iges, and arriving at the 

 place unjustly called its Head, in the neighbourhood of Islington 'tis 

 ingulfed by 5s main pipes of bores of 7 incdies ; w herebv 'tis conveyed 

 into the several streets, lanes, \:c. of the City and suburbs of London, 

 to the great convenience and use of the inhabitants, who, by small 

 leaden pipes of half inch bore, have the water brought into their 

 houses;" the number of tenants amounting in I75(; to 3o,liOO. 



It was o|)ened and the water admitted into the basins at the Ne\V 

 River Head at Michaelmas, 1013, with great (loiii]! on the day that 

 Sir Thomas Myddleton, brother to Hugh, was elei ti-il Loril Mayor. 



In 11)19 a charter of incoporation was granted by James I. to Sir 

 Hugh Myddleton, citizen and goldsmith, in conjui'iction with other 

 wealthy citizens, and they were styled " the (jov'ernor and Company 

 of the Xeu River Ijiought from Chadwell and Amwell to London." It 

 empowered them to improve the river, to prevent nuisances being 

 committed therein, vndtr ptnally of the King's dinyltdnmr, subject to 

 the laws for the contenmers of the King's authority ; ■mu\, iiiidtr tlic 

 samepinal/y, all other parties were prohibited bringing water for the 

 supply of the Cities of London and Westminster, and the Borough of 

 Southwark, without a licence from the Governor und Company of the 

 Kew River. 



The King subscribed towards the undertaking, and was thereby en- 

 titled to ;i moiety of the profits. The work was said to have cost 

 500,00(1/.: the capital was divided into 72 shares, of which the King 

 had 3li ; but so poorly did the scheme answer at first, from ignorance 

 of the gre;it advantages that the Metropolis \vo\dd derive from this 

 splendid work, that .Sir Hugh Myddleton, who had spent the whole of 

 his fortune, was ruined, and the proprietors did not for 30 years di\ ide 

 more than 5/. per share, or about Is. f>d. per cent. The King, how- 

 ever, who was entitleil to a moiety, relinipiished his share, reserving 

 only .500/. per annum out of it. Although the King's share was in 

 private hands, they took no part in conducting the aHairs of the Com- 

 pany. 



Previous to the year 1738 the supply from the springs was tound to 

 be insufiicient, and arrangements were made w ith the trustees of the 

 river Lee, to enable the New River Company to abstract water from 

 the said river. This was done, first by pipes, ;ind afterwards by a cut 

 and trough into the New River, the dimensions of which wen; ileter- 

 mined by Act of Parliament, passed in 1738, in the 12th year of the 

 reign of George the Second. 



This supply, however, was not found to be suHicient, although e(ju.d 

 in the aggregate to nearly 17 millions of gallons per diem, or nearly 

 172 milli(ms of barrels (ler annum; for in Is22, when the New River 

 Company undertook to supjily the London Bridge Water-works dis- 

 tricts, it was one of the conditions that they shoidd have a steam-en- 

 gine to pump from the Thames, in case of failure in the supply of the 

 New River, occasioned by frost or draught ; and a 100-horse power 

 engine was accordingly erected at Broken Wharf. 



Objections having been made of late years to the water occasional I y 

 raised by this engine from the Thames, and to the exposed state of 

 the New River, ;illowing boys to bathe in it, ;ind other nuisances; the 

 Company, upholding the character for enterprise which was bequeathed 

 to them by the great founder of their works, are now applying to Par- 

 lianu^nt for powers to improve their supply, by relinquishing their 

 station on the banks of the Thames, and in lieu thereof, raising water 

 from the river Lee; and also by fencing in the New River to jirevent 

 nuisances being committed tlierein. 



( To be coiilinmd.) 



BRITISH MUSEUM.— No. V. 



(From the Times.) 

 Egyptian Antiquities. 



The collection of anticpiities in the great saloon of the British Mu- 

 seum, unconnected with the edifices of which thev formed part, to the 

 artist are comparatively useless. The monstrosities they represent 

 can neither excite his emulation, nor improve his taste ; while to the 

 general visitor they are only regarded as matters of curiosity : he lin- 

 gers round the mutilated blocks of granite, in vain endeavours to find 

 the meaning of the strange and luieouth figures he sees so innumerably 

 engraved upon them; on turning to the pages of the synopsis, he 

 simply finds the nanu>s of Amenothoph, of Raineses, of llojith, of 

 Shishak, or of Pthanenoph, and his curiosity remains unsatisfied. A 

 short and more particular description of some of the most important 

 may not be unacceptable. 



In the central room a c;ise has lately been opened, in which are two 

 figures, apparently designed to represent a mother and daughter. In 

 beauty of design and execution they are hardly surpassed, it equalled, 

 by any in the collection ; they seem to belong neither to the temple 

 nor the tondi, and, whatever they may he called, possess all the ap- 

 pearance of family portraits. They are sitting on a couch, the legs of 

 which terminate in lion's paws, ;ind possess more of the Greek than 

 Roman fashion; the height of the elder figure is 5 feet inches, that 

 of the younger 5 feet 2 inches ; in the right hand of the mother, which 

 is extended downwarils, is the mysterious instrument resembling a 

 key, called the "Ian," which is commonly a mark of the priesthood ; 

 the other, which is singular in Egyptian sculpture, is placed upon the 

 daughter's; the faces of both are handsome, that of the youngest 

 miglit be lliought beautiful; the exjiression of innocence and modesty 

 is finely pourtrayed ; the eyes are large, the lips Imve nothing of the 

 Ethio))ian character, the mouth is beautifully shaped, the nose small 

 and delicately formed, and happiness is thrown over the countenance ; 

 the figure is slender, the shaiie of the bosom and shoulders perfect ; 

 the hair, which is in u thousand curls, covers the ears, and on the fore- 

 head is so arranged as to form a tiara ; the dress descends nearly to 

 the ancle, and is intended to represent the finest muslin ; around the 

 edges of which is m edging apparently of lace ; it is crossed over the 



