For the first time ever, we publish our full transcript of the 1780 Admiralty Survey of the Greenwich Conduits. Deciphering the original copperplate handwriting was a major task; some of the words are illegible and cannot be surmised from the context. There is also some physical damage to the original.
There are 13 conduits mentioned, which may come as a shock to a few people - notably Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage - who considers
1 that the EH survey of 2009 was an adequate investigation, even though it only covered 3 conduits (the contractor, Irriplan, failed to get into the extensive and ancient upper section of the
Hyde Vale Conduit which we have been visiting for many years).
[Page 1]
The board having maturely and p- considered, the whole of the said papers, minutes, and maps, and the information arising therefrom, Resolved to take a survey thereof; and for that purpose, proceeded to the South Iron Gates, at the middle of the Hospital, entering from Romney Road. -
At this place, it appeared, that the leaden pipes, conducting the water into the Hospital, consisted of two large branches, one from the western parts of the park, and grounds more to the westward, without the park; but within the manor; the other, from the eastern parts of the park, and hills adjoining; Both which branches, are kept separate and distinct in their effect, unless where the difference of their level, in the several storys and higher parts of the Hospital, require a charge [change?] of these two supply water for that purpose; of which is effected, by opening and shutting distinct Cocks, at this place.
From this point, entering at the North Middle Gates of the Kings Garden, the Board proceeded to
[Page 2]
trace the course of the leaden branch of the western supply, from the information of the Clerk of the works, the plumber, and the turncocks.
Having proceeded cross the lawn, to the west side of the Kings House, the Great Pipe was found to cross the Court Yard; and, that there were the following branches taken out of it; to wit, one branch westward into a small garden, one other westward to the coach house and stables, one other eastward to a water closet in the middle of the Kings House; and one other eastward, passing along the south front of the said house, which supply a cistern near the ?, or from thence all the offices adjoining thereto
The Board then proceeded cross the park, in a south west direction, tracing the course of the Great Leaden Branch, which crosses the Square Lawn in the N. W. corner of the park, and about the middle thereof, affords by means of sidecock, (under lock and key,) a small supply into a trough, for the use of the deer.
The said Great Branch was then found to turn up the middle of the Western Walk, to the Great Cistern or Reservoir, commonly called
[Page 3]
the Standard Reservoir, which is built of stone & brick, lined with lead, & has a large brick building erected over it, all which was repaired, and the Cistern rebuilt of a larger size than formerly, at the expense of the Hospital about four years ago. From that level the water rises into the highest parts of the Hospital.
From this Standard Reservoir, which affords the largest supply of all the park waters.
The leaden pipes, which conduct water into it, were traced upwards in the following manner -
one leaden pipe comes from a Conduit Head on the face of the hill just above the reservoir 84 feet distant, which, for the sake of distinction, was called No.1 - This Conduit-head has a small receiver in it, and collects water from one brick drain underground, about 120 feet in length, which extends eastward, to the roots of a thorn tree, and also from one other brick drain underground, about 100 feet in length, extending south westward, in a curved direction, to a hollow in the ground. All which Conduit head lead pipe & brick drain were repaired and cleansed at the expense of the Hospital about 4 years ago.
Returning to the Standard Reservoir, one other Branch of Supply is a large leaden pipe, which lyes underground, was traced to a door in the face of the hill, at the end
[Page 4]
of a large brick arch, well constructed - Which arch passes from thence, out of the Park, under Croom hill, under the public highways to a hollow or valley, commonly called Sots Hole, or Conduit Vale, where it terminates at another door, and having several perpendicular shafts for air holes, at different distances, in the extent thereof - On the left hand side of the floor of this arch, the leaden pipe of supply above mentioned extends the whole length, and at the S. W. extremity of the said arch, turns suddenly to the left, and lyes in another smaller arch, which extends up the valley of Sots Hole to a Conduit head No.2 near the Horse Pond, on Blackheath, at the end of Chocolate Row; and which arch has one short square turning, and two small branches extending into the rising bank adjoining eastward, all underground.
The leaden branch of supply, in the said Drain, proceeds about half way only, up the valley of sots hole, and terminates at a dam cross the said brick drain, which stops and collects, all the several supplys from the springs in the bowels of the earth, and conducts the same collectively into the mouth of the said pipe.
[Page 5]
It appeared that all these several Drains, Conduit head and leaden pipe, were repaired and cleansed at the expense of the Hospital about 4 years ago -
It appeared also, by information from the papers above mentioned, that all the supply of water from this valley, were called or denominated by that of Croom hill Conduit-head; and prior to the year 1696, and before the large brick arch above mentioned, which passes thro' & underneath Croom hill, was constructed, had been conducted down the lower part of the said valley, thro' the lands of a Capn. Mason & Alice Cottle or Gottle widow, and joined another leaden branch of supply, hereinafter mentioned -
The Board then proceeded westward, to a point of land, being a part of Blackheath, known formerly by the name of Maiden Stone hill; and on the north side of the same, at the head of Gang Lane, surveyed one other Conduit-head, No.3; which commonly goes by the name of Gang Lane Conduit; and is called in one part of the Minutes, Foxes' Conduit.
[Page 6]
To supply this conduit head there is a brick arch underground, which passes towards the south, and seems to go into the said hill towards a small pool of water - But it appeared also, that there had been formerly, another Conduit head for the supply of ? of Gang Lane, more to the westward, and stood opposite to the workhouse (formerly the pest house,) with a brick drain to conduct water from it. but whether the said lastmentioned conduit and brick drain, has been rendered totally useless & taken away, by the digging the face of the hill, for sand gravel and chalk as was greatly practised, & complained of in former times by the Board; or lyes at this time, buried in the face of the hill, does not appear -
The said Conduit head No.3 appeared to be of very old construction, is out of repair, and contains water in it -
From this Conduit there is a leaden pipe 2 inches bore, which passes under the road of Gang Lane, and near to the north side of a small house, then thro' private garden grounds,
[Page 7]
down the hill, to the Grounds of Mr Oliver, From the fence on the west of his grounds, in the ? of the valley, it passes through his pasture land, and points directly to the Park and Hospital
On the south side of this large leaden pipe, there is a small branch of supply, to a trough in the corner of a field -
Nearer to the Mansion House there is another small pipe, ? ? to a cistern in the corner of the ? wall -
At a small distance from the south west corner of the said house, the large leaden pipe is discontinued, the old one having been taken up; and a small pipe of supply conducts the whole water, from thence to the north side of the said house, and serves the same, and the offices therof, with soft water.
It appeared by the testimony of the Clerk of the works, the Plumber, and turncocks, that instead of being discontinued, where it now is, did proceed further on towards the Park, and that the end of it was turned up above ground, at the south side of the said house, about 30 feet distant, about four years ago. And it also appeared from the ? and papers above mentioned, that the said large leaden
[Page 8]
branch, from Gang Lane Conduit No.3, was joined by the pipe from the Croom hill Conduit No.2, in the bottom of the valley, at or near the fence on the west side of Mr Oliviers Grounds, and jointly conveyed these waters into the Standard Reservoir in the Park from which ? ? house is very little distant -
It appeared also that as repairs or works ? ? have been done of late years to this last-mentioned Conduit No.3, or to the pipe of supply, at the expense of the Hospital; altho' it is mentioned in the minutes, to have been an object of care and attention in former times, and that a part of the supply for the old Palace and Offices, converted into an hospital, was derived from thence -
The Board, having spent many hours in this survey, adjourned the continuation thereof, until this day ? at two o'clock, to examine into the state of supplies of water, from the eastern parts of the park & c.
[Page 9]
Oct 14 1780
The board proceeded to the further part of the survey of the Conduits, pipes, and springheads; which was in part done on the ? ? For that purpose having repaired to the iron gate on the south side of the Hospital, the Board ascertained the situation of the Grea Leaden Pipe, which conducts the whole water collected from the springs on the East side of the park; and remarked that, after the said pipe turns to the east, within the iron fence of the Hospital, and proceeds to the distribution of the water, there is a small branch that goes from the said large pipe, cross Romney road and serves the lower part of the Kings garden, at or near the Hothouse -
The course of the said large leaden pipe, was then traced, through the Kings north gates, & cross the lawn, to the N. E. corner of the Kings House; and observation was made that there is a small leaden branch, in the middle of the lawn, which formerly served a round bain of water in the middle tthereof, and is now dead and useless -
The Great Leaden pipe was then found to cross the yard, (at 10 feet distance from the east end of the Kings House), where
[Page 10]
there is a firecock, and the water pipe is twisted and turned in an improper manner -
From thence the large leaden pipe, after crossing the other pipe of supply to the Hospital, which comes from the western large pipe to the reservoir of the kitchen ? of the Kings house, as mentioned in the former part of the survey, passes under the brick wall and into the park -
At a far distance from the south side of the brick wall, the said large leaden pipe (collecting all the waters from the east side of the park), divides into two parts; and the board proceeded trace the right hand branch pointing towards the south east -
After crossing the middle lawn, it was found to go through the trees to the receiver near the enclosed ground of the keepers lodge; Near to which the said pipe takes a small circuit to the east, and terminates at the said receiver -
This receiver, is a small square brick building, and is not a conduit nor a reservoir, for it receives the water by brick drains from several sprrings within the ? ground of the keepers lodge, and does not collect or retain any quantity of water for want of a cistern or reservoir to coontain the same; but, at particular times of the day or night, allows the overplus water to waste itself in the park, to the ? of the park habitat
[Page 11]
The said reservoir was denominated No.4; and the drain from it was found to proceed upwards to three several brick buildings, within the said fenced ground, which jointly afford a considerable supply of water, and were entitled No.5, No.6 & No.7
From the largest of the brick buildings, which contains a stair case, another large brick drain was found to proceed north east, out of the said fenced ground, and at a considerable distance, has a small square brick building, No.8, on the top of it, which serves for a shaft for air and access -
The said brick drain was then found to proceed eastward, and then terminates in a hollow, to the open air, having the end boarded up -
The whole of this last class of Conduits and spring heads, making the right hand branch of the eastern supply, were repaired, cleansed and put in proper order, by and at the expense of the Hospital, about 4 years ago -
It appeared that these parts were very ancient, and had been enlarged to their present extent, since the institution of the Hospital -
The Board then returned back to the south east corner of the Kings house, where the large leaden pipe divides in two parts as above mentioned -
The left hand branch, was found to run eastward along the White Rails, and under one of the posts, had been cut through, and turned up, by some [end of paper cut off]
[Page 12]
perhaps of what mischief they were then doing The said pipe then proceeds eastward, and opposite to the wicket going out of the park, it was found to have a stopcock upon it, which, being underground and unknown to any officer of the Hospital, prevented all supply of water from that quarter by its being found shut even if the water pipe need not been shut as above mentioned. A little further eastward a small side branch was found to go from the said great leaden branch, to the wicket aforesaid, and there supplys a small house, at the east gate of the Kings offices, and this passes on to other smaller offices, affords a supply of water to all persons in that neighbourhood who have obtained keys to a lock on the outside said gates; and which cock, passes thro' the wall from the pipe of supply abovementioned -
The great leaden pipe in the park was found to proceed a little further eastward to a place where the Clerk of the works of the Kings house, had lately as the Board were informed, put down a stop cock on the said pipe so as that the supply of water may be turned off at pleasure -
And that there was at the same time, a pipe of supply to put on the side ? to supply a cistern ? the inside of the ? of the said Clerk of the works, and from there a cock in the said garden had another in his kitchen -
The great leaden pipe was found to proceed from thence eastward, and to pass near an
[Page 13]
Building, but which is now converted into a stable, but appeared by the old surveys to have had a great reservoir in the loft of it, for all the waters in the east side of the park. This reservoir stood opposite the end of East Lane, and among other places afforded a supply of water to the yards and houses of the officers of His Majestys Works near the Crane, all which were granted to the Hospital by King George - -
At this place, there is a small pipe of supply, which serves a trough in the inside of the pale fence -
From thence the great leaden pipe was found to proceed still eastward, and ? there is, one small pipe of supply, which did serve a round basin, or fountain in the middle of the orchard, adjoining, but that the same is now dead and has not afforded supply for many years -
A little further eastward, the great leaden pipe aforesaid, turns through the trees to the south east, and at a certain place, divides again into 2 branches; one of which on the right hand, proceeds upwards in a diagonal line cross the lawn to a class of conduits on the north side of one tree Hill -
[Page 14]
At the east end of the avenue of trees, it receives a pipe of supply from the Conduit-head No.9, which conduit has a large brick drain, 50 feet in extent, toward the west, and another to the east, but turning round, passes afterwards to the south, into the side of the hill -
At the east end of the avenue aforesaid, the large leaden pipe has a branch of supply, from a Conduit head No.10 with a good supply of water from thence. This last conduit has a brick drain which passes underground a considerable way into the east side of the said hill -
At the east end of the avenue aforesaid, a pipe goes from the main leaden branch to a large brick building of a pyramidal form, entitled No.11, which building is nothing more than a receiver of a provisional supply from the main branch above mentioned, in case the supply of water, prove not sufficient, from a conduit head, No.12, standing a little up the hill to the south, and which conduit has a brick drain passing someway into the hill aforesaid -
In the receiver, No.11, there is only a small round basin, not capable of holding a quantity of water; and from thence a leaden pipe conveys the water to a house and garden in the north east
[Page 15]
corner of the Park, at the bottom of a piece of ground formerly the burying ground of the Hospital & which house was lately the residence of the Clerk of the Works of the Kings House -
The Board went from this part out of the Park, at the east wicket, cross Maze Hill, and proceeded to a Green Lane, commonly called Conduit Lane, and observed a spring on the west side of the said lane at the brow of the hill in the field possessed by Mr ? ? said to be the property of Morden College -
This spring produces a considerable quantity of water, and appears by the old survey to have been conducted in earthen pipes to the hobby stables belonging to the Crown, which stood near the Ballast quay now Crawleys Wharf and that it was called the Arundel conduit in the old survey aforesaid -
There are now no remains of brick although some is remembered to have been there, and the possibility of rendering is useful; is almost totally done away by the ground below having been cut down to an extreme depth for chalk, sand and gravel, as appears by the minutes -
The Board proceeded next to another Conduit-head in a piece of ground under Mr Wilkinson's house, in his possession and to the north of the same. This was entitled No.13, and appeared quite ruined, and choaked up. It was called Primrose Hill conduit, and has a drain which passes upwards to receive the water from the ground to the south, and it would appear, the leaden pipe went through the ground and yards of Mr Hatt (formerly Colonel Richards by the old survey) and after crossing the road of Maze Hill, passed into the east side of the
[Page 16]
Park, and proceeded on, towards the Kings House, and in the east lawn joined the leaden branch above mentioned, forming thereby, the left hand, or northern branch of the leaden pipe, which goes at present to the offices at the east gate of the Kings House, and went formerly into the reservoir opposite the end of East Lane -
Of the leaden pipe which conveyed the water from the Conduit, No.13, there appeared no remains, of it at present, except within the Park, and on the west side of the Hospitals old burying ground, at the wall of which it stops, and by a cock gives an occasional supply into the side of the leaden pipe which goes from the receiver No.11 into several parts of the garden and down to the house formerly possessed by the Clerk of the Kings Works, as above described -
The Board finished the survey at this place having gone over, and particularly examined, all the spring heads, and the present as well as ancient, method of conducting the waters therefrom, into the Ancient Palace, the Hospital, and the house of Officer belonging to the Crown -
Dominic Clinton and Per von Scheibner assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.
1 Personal correspondence
