Building    From 1236  To 1666

Great Conduit

Categories: Engineering, Food & Drink

In 1236/7 the City of London was granted permission to tap the Tyburn Springs, at about where Stratford Place now is. Work to build the conduit began in 1245. it went via Piccadilly, Charing Cross, the Strand, Fleet Street, Ludgate Circus, north of St Pauls, to Cheapside. At the site of the plaque there was a a deep cistern and fountain.

At Ancestreemakers we learn that the conduit was "a wood and lead water pipe with an internal diameter of 90 mm, which lay, encased in clay, at the bottom of a deep trench". Already being superseded by other sources of fresh water the conduit was damaged in the Great Fire and abandoned.

The image shows the Conduit to the right, and comes via The Guardian from Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Great Conduit

Commemorated ati

Great Conduit in Cheapside - blue

The Great Conduit stood in this street providing free water, 13th century to ...

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Great Conduit in Cheapside - stone

{Below the City of London crest:} The Great Conduit lies beneath this spot. B...

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Other Subjects

William Rankine

William Rankine

Born Edinburgh. Physicist. Worked in thermodynamics. Never married but was musical and wrote humorous songs. Died Glasgow.

Person, Engineering, Scotland

2 memorials
Brunel's Engine House

Brunel's Engine House

The engine house was designed by Marc Brunel to be part of the infrastructure of his Thames tunnel. It held steam-powered pumps used to extract water from the excavations. Since 1961 the building h...

Building, Engineering

1 memorial
Kingschoole sluice

Kingschoole sluice

"Kingschoole" refers to the passage of the Tyburn river through the grounds of Westminster School.  'Sluice' refers to an artificial water channel controlled at its head by a gate.  And there is in...

Building, Engineering

1 memorial
Lord Nuffield, William Morris

Lord Nuffield, William Morris

Motor manufacturer and philanthropist. Born Worcester. Began work in a bicycle shop and designed the first Morris car in 1912. Founder of the Morris Motor Company and founder of the Nuffield Fou...

Person, Engineering, Philanthropy, Transport

1 memorial
Jan F. Groll

Jan F. Groll

From Colonial Spectacles “John (or Jan) F. Groll was an architect and engineer.  After completing his studies in Delft, he worked for the department of public works in British India….”  We can't fi...

Person, Architecture, Engineering

1 memorial