1S40] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



45 



apartment furnished with certain articles there displayed, than of a mere 

 wareho\ise where they are stowed away on sheh-es that entirely line the 

 walls. The same diversity could not very well be extended to the ex- 

 teriors, or shop-fronts themselves ; because that would be apt to occa- 

 sion a very disagreeable medley of all sorts of styles in our streets, and 

 give them a most motley appearance. To be convinced of this, we 

 need but look at Saunders and Woolley's shop-front in Regent Street. 

 Whatever may be thought of the particular taste of embellishment — ■ 

 the so-called Louis Qiuitvrze — there displayed, it is svfficiently signi- 

 ficant ; and we have no doubt that, as a design upon paper, shewn 

 (|uite bv itself, without any accompaniment, it uiade a striking and al- 

 luring appearance ; yet, as actually beheld, it is as much of a blemish 

 as a beaulv, — no improvement to the street, except as affording a very 

 showv display of window and costly articles of upholstery; and de- 

 cidedly injurious to the facade where it has been introduced. The 

 style itself is, moreover, by far too exotic and anomalous to be at all 

 ada|ited for exterior architecture, even were an entire front to be 

 designed in it so as to form a consistent composition. The Gothic 

 style, however, that is, some varieties of it, might occasionlly be re- 

 sorted to both with propriety and effect ; although we are not aw'are 

 (if its having been hitherto applied to such purpose, except at Fairs's, 

 in Mortimer Street, an exceedingly small, at least very narrow, upright 

 strip of Elizabethan architecture, clever, and not a little picturesque. 

 That the pale bronze hue given to that pretty architectural facade is 

 attended with other advantage than that of rendering it more conspi- 

 cuous, is what we will not imdertake to decide : since greater variety, 

 and quite as much propriety in regard to colouring, niiglit have been 

 obtained, imitating the weather-stained tints of stone and brick, with, 

 ])erhaps, some of the mere ornamental parts in imitation of bronze, or 

 other metal. 



Our catalogue of shops, would be longer than Homer's catalogue of 

 ships ; and, we venture to say on our part, not very much more inter- 

 esting, were we to note all that aim at being remarkable as well as 

 fascinating. There is hardly a street of them at the west end of the 

 town, in which one or more will not be found affording evidence of a 

 desire to attract observation by something more than the show of goods 

 behind the glass; but we cannot say that many of the designers have 

 displayed much fancy or taste, or greatly taxed their invention for the 

 benefit of their employers. In almost all of them we ])erceive some 

 little, and but very little, aim at originality — a mere beginning towards 

 it — in scarcely one instance a complete developement of a novel idea ; 

 consequently, there invariably seems to be more pretension than actual 

 performance. Colnaghi and Puckle's new shop-front, in Cockspur 

 Street, presents some novelty of style and detail, and is remarkable 

 for the great projection of the cornice, whicli is brought forward as 

 much as the half-octagon bay in the upper part of the house. The 

 style itself partakes of both the Rinaissntice and the Elizabethan; and, 

 independently of the panels with which they are embellished, the ex- 

 treme piers assist the design very much, both by giving an air of sta- 

 bility to the tnsimble, and a suitable termination to it. Cowie's, in 

 Holies Street, is singular, chiefly on account of the window shewing 

 itself somewhat like a glass-case inserted in the front, and being dark 

 brown relieved with gilding; while the door, which is detached from 

 it, has enormous white consoles, enriched with gilt mouldings, though 

 all the rest are of very dark hues ; a contrast of colours more traii- 

 chatit and striking than tasteful. In the adjoining str"et, viz. Henrietta 

 • — Marshall and Stinton's makes a quiet sort of display with its four 

 three-quarter Ionic columns, between which are three arches, of which 

 the two forming the windows are each filled in with a single sheet of 

 ]ilate glass ; which species of luxury is not rendered less singular by 

 the extreme plainness of the windows themselves. We should re- 

 commend some liberal decoration in the spaces between them and the 

 columns. 



The new front of No. 76 in the Strand, now the " Foreign Marble 

 Warehouse," may be cited as almost the very reverse of the preced- 

 ing, being as studiously embellished as the other is studiedly kept 

 plain. W'hat little design there is in the shop itself, has neither much 

 novelty nor much taste ; it is the elevation above, and in a maimer 

 distinct from it, which presents a sample of an unusual mode of em- 

 bellishment, it being liberally, yet not too liberally, decorated with 

 medallions and figures in relief between the windows ; and but for the 

 disagreeable heaviness of the odd-looking cornices to the windows of 

 the first floor, would be an agreeable composition, though susceptible 

 of improvement in other respects besides the defect just pointed out. 

 Had the exterior of the adjoining house been added to the design, so 

 as to give greater width to the elevation, the effect would have been 

 increased in more than arithmetical progression. 



ON THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO THE METROPOLIS. 



Observations on the past and present supply of Water to the Metro- 

 polis. By Thomas Wickstekd, C'iril Engineer. Read before the 

 Society of Arts, J\Iay 24, 1835. 



( Continued from page 12. J 



During the next two centuries, namely, from a.d. 1000 to a.d. ISOO, 

 were established several water-works of minor importance, as follow: 



To the Merchant Water-works belonged three engines lor raising 

 water; one a windmill in Toltenhain Court Road Fields; and two 

 overshot water-wheels, worked by the water of a common sewer in 

 St. Martin's and Hartshorn Lanes in the Strand ; there were three 

 mains of G and 7 inch bores to supply the respective neighbourhoods. 



The Shadwell Water-works, erected about 1660, had first a horse- 

 wheel, and afterwards tw'O atmospheric engines, which supplied tlie 

 neighbourhood with Thames water through two mains of or 7 inch 

 bores. 



In 1691 these works, which had previously belonged to the family 

 of Thomas Neale, Esq., were vested in a company of proprietors, who 

 w ere incorporated by an act of Parliament 3rd and 4th of William and 

 Marv. Two engines, of Boulton and Watt's manufacture, were after- 

 wards erected ; Ihe first was one of the earliest engines made by them. 

 When the London Docks were made, the district was much reduced 

 in consequence, and the works were purchased by the Dock Company ; 

 and afterwards an act was obtained in ISOS by the East London Water- 

 works Company to enable them to (lurchase these works, which they 

 did. The works were in play for a short time afterwards, but were 

 eventually given up, the supply from the Company's new works being 

 superior. 



The York Buildings Water-works, in Villiers Street, Strand, were 

 established in 1691. The Thames water was raised for the supply of 

 the neighbourhood, first by a horse-wheel ; afterwards previous to the 

 year 1710, they had one of Savery's engines; and a few years after- 

 wards one of Newcomen's. Mai'tland says in his work, published 

 17n6, that "the directors of this Company, by purchasing estates in 

 England and Scotland, erecting new water-works and other pernicious 

 projects, have almost ruined the company. However, their chargeable 

 engine for raising water by fire being laid aside, they continue to work 

 that of horses, which may in time restore the Company's affairs." 

 This was true for a time, as it appears that from 1789 to 1804 this 

 Company paid good dividends, but afterwards, in consequence of the 

 ruinous competition that arose at that time, and for some years subse- 

 quently, a new engine was erected of 70 horses power, iron pipes laid 

 down instead of woo<l, and no more dividends were paid, excepting 

 V. per share for two years, out of the capital ; and in 1818 the Com- 

 pany was ruined, the establishment broken up, and the district was 

 supplied by the New River. 



In 177o Mr. Watt mentions an engine of Newcomen's at the York 

 Buildings, and Mr. Farcy calculated its power at about 26 horses, 

 working 7 hours per diem, and raising during that time about 356,000 

 gallons to a height of 1112 feet, or 3,137,000 barrels per annum. In 

 IS Ut the quantity raised at these works was only equal to 178,200 

 gallons per diem', or 1,541,100 barrels per annum. In ISIS, before the 

 breaking up of the establishment, the quantity raised was 762,588 

 gallons per diem, or 6,i;09,252 barrels per annum; which supplied 

 about 2636 tenants. 



The Chelsea Water-n'orks were established in 1722 by an act of 

 Parliament, in the Sth of George I., for the better supplying the city 

 and liberties of Westminsier, and parts adjacent, with water. 



The Thames water was raised from settling-ponds, in the first in- 

 stance, by a water-wheel, which was worked by the water collected 

 in large ponds as the tide rose, and kept in until the water in the 

 river lowered, when it was let out and worked the wheel : afterwards 

 two of Newcomen's engines were erected, and in 1782 one of Boulton 

 and Watt's engines, — one of the earliest erected in London. 



The West Ham Water-works were set on foot in 1743, and a com- 

 pany was established by act of Parliament the 21st of George II., in 

 1747. The water was raised out of one of the branches of the River 

 Lee by a fire-engine of about 6 horses power ; these works were after- 

 wards purchased by the East London Water-works Company, at the 

 same time that they purchased the Shadwell works ; and the power 

 now used is a water-wheel of about 16 horses power. 



Previous to the year 1756 there was a horse-machine for raising 

 Thames water through a 7-inch pipe in Southwark, called the Bank 

 End Water-works. A company was formed in 1758, under the name 

 of the Old Borough Water-vvorks Company, which, together with 

 the London Bridge works, supplied Southwark. A steam-engine was 

 erected afterwards ; and in 1823, upon the removal of the London 



