Watering Holes
This beautiful old water pump complete with lamp that stands in the middle of the road in Bedford Row, near to Jockey Fields and Grays Inn. Where the local dwellers and Lawyers would draw their water in the early eighteen hundreds. Charles Dickens lived and worked close by so would have almost certainly used the pump at sometime.
Another disappearing bit of street furniture is the cattle trough that was run by the Cattle Trough Association and could be found on many street corners throughout London. These trough's were in use until the early sixties when motor cars had finally made horse and carts redundant. Today the surviving trough's are used for flower displays and add charm to many London side streets.
This beautiful Roman slave girl who has been standing with her urn gently tilted for over a century, on the northern foot of Blackfriars bridge, never having to refresh a thirsty soul these days. The only water that spills into this red granite basin nowadays is sent from the heavens above in the form of rain water. Rather sadly the water was turned off in the mid 1970’s and with designer water selling for around £1 in plastic bottles that we will try to dispose of for years, her duty no longer being performed so lavishly for free.
The first Earl Spencer who was ancestor to Princess Diana, had this Artesian Well built in Arthur Road, Wimbledon during 1763 to provide water for his nearby house. In 1798 the wells depth was increased to over 500ft., but soon afterwards it dried up. It was not until 1975 that the building was converted into a private house for the first time.
The Clerk's Well.
The Clerk’s Well that gives it’s name to the area now known as Clerkenwell was the scene of medieval miracle plays that was performed by the local Parish Clerks of London. The well was located in the boundary wall of St Mary's Nunnery, and after the dissolution of the nunnery and the boundary wall was destroyed the well was lost. This ancient water hole was only rediscovered during rebuilding in Farringdon Lane in 1924, and the Clerk’s Well is now displayed in the basement of Well Court and can be seen from Street level in Farringdon Lane.
Marylebone Conduit.
Inset in this modern piece of wall at the corner of Wigmore Street and Marylebone Lane is this plaque that goes unnoticed by the vast majority of passers by, this very spot was once the main source of water supply to the City of London.
The river Tyborne with conduit heads where the water was once piped chiefly along side of Oxford Street to the City of London. The Lord Mayor's Banqueting House once stood in Fields now occupied by Stratford Place. Along side of this field was a small lane leading to Marylebone, today’s 'Marylebone Lane' where on the corner of Wigmore Street stood the chief conduit now marked by this stone inlaid into the wall and dated 1776 with the City of London markings.
An iron marker where once stood the St Clements danes well
In the Survey of London 1598 Stow recalls, "Because it standeth near to Clement's Church, but nearer to the fair fountain called Clement's Well." This Holy well that once was a steam that ran beneath St Clements Danes church in the strand and ran down into a stream in what is present day Strand Lane, before emptying into the River Thames.
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