The Lambeth Waterworks Company was a

utility company A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

supplying water to parts of south

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 ...

. The company was established in 1785 with works in north Lambeth and became part of the publicly owned

Metropolitan Water Board The Metropolitan Water Board was a municipal body formed in 1903 to manage the water supply in London, UK. The members of the board were nominated by the local authorities within its area of supply. In 1904 it took over the water supply functi ...

in 1904.

Origins

The Lambeth Waterworks Company, founded in 1785 to supply water to south and west London, established premises on the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

close to the present site of

Hungerford Bridge The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel truss railway bridge ...

where the Royal Festival Hall now stands. The Company's first water-intake lay on the south side of the river, supplied directly from the river. After complaints that the water was foul, the intake was moved to the middle of the river. The Company expanded to supply Kennington in 1802 and about this time replaced its wooden pipes with iron ones.

Infrastructure

In 1832 the company built a reservoir at Streatham Hill, and in 1834 obtained an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

to extend its area of supply. In the same year the company purchased of land in Brixton and built a reservoir and works on Brixton Hill adjacent to

Brixton Prison HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened a ...

. Around the 1850s the quality of drinking water became a matter of public concern, and John Snow examined the state of waters in 1849. Parliament passed the

Metropolis Water Act 1852 The Metropolis Water Act 1852 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced regulation of water supply companies in London ("the Metropolis"), including minimum standards of water quality for the first time. The Act was en ...

to "make provision for securing the supply to the Metropolis of pure and wholesome water". Under the Act, it became unlawful for any water company to extract water for domestic use from the tidal reaches of the Thames after 31 August 1855, and from 31 December 1855 all such water was required to be "effectually filtered". The directors had already decided in 1847 to move the intake for their reservoirs to

Seething Wells Seething Wells is a neighbourhood in southwest London on the border between Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, and Elmbridge in Surrey. The area was historically a waterworks that supplied London with water ...

. The facilities were completed in 1852, and the Lambeth was joined there taking advantage of its pipes to the city by the

Chelsea Waterworks Company The Chelsea Waterworks Company was a London waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water sup ...

. The facilities played a role in John Snow's statistical investigations during a cholera outbreak, the facility was further upriver than many other waterworks and hence had cleaner water, leading to fewer cholera deaths. However the inlets pumped in too much

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

with the water because of turbulence caused by the discharge (confluence) of the

River Mole The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows northwest through Surrey for to the Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives its name to the Surrey distri ...

/ Ember and The Rythe into the Thames immediately upstream. The Lambeth Waterworks Company thus moved upstream to

Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retai ...

between Sunbury and

Locks, where they built the Molesey Reservoirs in 1872 and the Chelsea Waterworks Company followed them there three years later. A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of the Borough of Elmbridge
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References

{{Thames Water London water infrastructure British companies established in 1785 Former water company predecessors of Thames Water 1785 establishments in England Water supply Companies established in 1785

Origins

Infrastructure

See also

References