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 Already being superseded by other sources of fresh water the conduit was damaged in the Great Fire and abandoned.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.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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 ...

Read More

Great Conduit in Cheapside - stone

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

Read More

Other Subjects

Sir Hiram Maxim

Sir Hiram Maxim

Inventor and engineer. Designed and manufactured The Maxim Gun. Born Sangersville, Maine, USA, naturalised British. Died London.

Person, Engineering, USA

1 memorial
K. P. Harman

K. P. Harman

Camden Borough engineer & surveyor in 1969. Initials after his name: "B.Sc. (Eng.) F.I.C.E., F.I.Mun.E.". From the information given by Dugald Gonsal which is shown on our Memorial entry for t...

Person, Armed Forces, Engineering

1 memorial
Thomas Crapper

Thomas Crapper

Plumber. Born in Thorne, Yorkshire, and baptised 28th September 1836, (his exact date of birth is unknown). He is often mistakenly credited with the invention of the flushing lavatory (which actual...

Person, Commerce, Engineering

1 memorial
Royal Arsenal Brass Foundry

Royal Arsenal Brass Foundry

It was built when it was found that there were low stocks of artillery - but also in response to a fatal explosion in a private contractor's London foundry. In addition to its obvious casting funct...

Building, Armed Forces, Engineering

2 memorials
Sir John Rennie

Sir John Rennie

Civil engineer. Born 27 Stamford Street.  In London, worked on Waterloo, Southwark and London Bridges. President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, 1845-8. Died at Bengeo, near Hertford. Easy to...

Person, Engineering

5 memorials