The Great Conduit was a man-made underground channel in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which brought drinking water from the
Tyburn
Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone.
The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern O ...
to
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...
in the
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
.
In 1237 the City of London acquired the springs of the Tyburn and built a small reservoir, a head of water, to help serve the city with a steady, free, flowing supply. Work on the conduit began in 1245. It was much repaired over centuries. It ran towards
Charing Cross, along
the Strand north of which were fields. It then followed
Fleet Street. At Fleet Street most of the city was to the north-east. It then ran along
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...
(meaning market side, a key retail and general market of the city) where a building housed a great trough/tank and led to a surplus, overflow channel. Citizens from this were at liberty to draw water in small amounts, and greater for permitted purposes. Wardens were appointed to stem taking too much water, unpermitted taking or diversion, and to repair pipes. Extensions were made leading to other parts of the city. Other conduits were constructed in the 15th century
AD (
CE).
Florilegium Urbanum - The Great Conduit
/ref>
In the 15th century further source was added to the main conduit, from the Westbourne, enabling a new, additional off-tap at Cripplegate
Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London.
The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into ...
: one parish ''within'' and one ''without'' (outside) a northern gate in ancient, sparsely intact walls.
Use of the conduit ceased after the Great Fire of London in 1666.
See also
*London water supply infrastructure
London's water supply infrastructure has developed over the centuries in line with the expansion of London. For much of London's history, private companies supplied fresh water to various parts of London from wells, the River Thames and the Rive ...
References
History of the City of London
London water infrastructure
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