By this act the Mayor and commonalty of the City of London were authorized "to enter into the grounds and possessions of the King, as well as every other person and persons, bodies politic and corporate, where they shall find or know any such springs to be, or may be found for the intent aforesaid (so that it be not unto their houses, gardens, orchards, or places inclosed with stone, brick, or mud walls), and there to dig pits, trenches, and ditches, to erect heads, lay pipes, and make vaults, and do all and every such things in the same places and grounds which shall be meet, propise, and necessary, only for the conveyance of the said water and springs to the citie, and the suburbes of the same; and also to have free ingress, egress, and regress, in and to all such places where such heads, pipes, or vaults shall be erected, laid, or made, to view and see, from time to time, the said heads, pipes, suspirats, and vaults, and them to amend, repair, translate, and do all things necessary and convenient, as well for the finding of new springs, as for the conveyance of any water or springs new found, or hereafter to be found to the citie and suburbes aforesaid, without interruption, let, or impediment, of the owners of the ground, their lessees, assigns, or ministers, or any other person." Ample as was the power given to the corporation by the act, nevertheless, it stipulated that adequate compensation should be made to all owners or occupiers of land, within the space of one month after taking possession of it for the works, as well as the value of it estimated by three or four indifferent persons, appointed by a commission from the Lord Chancellor. It also contained a provision that the Lord Mayor and commonalty, and their successors, should "ever yield, bear, and pay to the Bishop of Westminster, for the time being, and to his successors, at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, one pound of pepper, in and for acknowledging him and them for the lords and very owners of the said heath." Besides they were strictly prohibited "not at any time hereafter to meddle with the spring at the foot of the hill of the said heath, called Hamsted Heath, now closed with brick, for the ease, commodity, and necessary use of the inhabitants of the town of Hamsted, nor do cause, or procure to be done, any thing, acts, or act, to the impairing, hurt, or diminishing, of the water of the same spring at any time hereafter." Notwithstanding the apprehensions detailed in the preamble to the act, nearly fifty years were allowed to elapse before its object was realized, for it appears that Sir John Hart, whilst serving the office of Lord Mayor, in 1589— 1590, attended to the execution of the works. Upon the declivity between the summit of Hampstead Heath and Pond-street, four reservoirs were formed; and to these, in 1777, another was added in the Vale of Health: the whole five have a communication with each other, and occupy about twelve acres. At about a mile distant from the above, between Hampstead and Highgate, are eight other reservoirs, which have likewise been constructed on different sites of the declivity, between Caen, or Ken Wood, and Kentish Town. The space occupied by these is about twenty acres; and every one in the range has not only a different elevation, but a connection with that immediately above or below it. Formerly two mains, of seven inches bore, were employed to supply the neighbourhood of St. Giles from these reservoirs. Though the property and management of the Hampstead works originally belonged to the corporation of London, yet at a subsequent period it was deemed eligible to convey their privilege of obtaining and supplying water from that source to several persons, who, in 1692, were incorporated by the denomination of The Hampstead Water Company. Their supply at present extends to about 2,500 houses, situate in the Hampstead Road, Kentish Town, and Camden Town; each house daily receiving on an average about 150 gallons. It may not be irrelevant to state, that by a clause of an Act of Parliament, passed in 1694, for the relief of the Orphans and other Creditors of the City of London, “all the rents and profits arising by any aqueducts, and right of bringing and conveying water, which do, or shall belong to the Mayor, commonalty, and citizens, are to be appropriated and applied towards the payment of the said interest money." In 1833 a very important improvement was effected in these works, by the making of a well at the bottom of Hampstead Heath. It is seven feet in diameter; and its depth, to the main spring, about 330 feet. As the water from this source is very soft and pure, as well as abundant, averaging more than 200,000 gallons per day, it is another object of the company to erect a steam engine, to elevate a quantity sufficiently high for supplying the town of Hampstead, where the want of a regular supply has long been experienced, particularly in dry seasons. Various other facts indicate the anxiety of the corporation, as well as private individuals, to benefit their fellow citizens. In 1546, the Common Council voted a sum of money to defray the expense of erecting a conduit at Lothbury, and for the necessary means of conveying water to supply it from Hoxton Fields. During the same year another was also constructed in Coleman Street, near to the church. The scheme of Mr. William Lambe entitles him to particular notice: and he is stated to have been a gentleman belonging to the Chapel Royal of Henry VIII. Lambe's Conduit derived its designation |