London (Watford) Spring Water Company — proposed works map & section 1852
£400
SKU: P-6-112383
'London (Watford) Spring Water Company. Map shewing the situation of the proposed Works for supplying the Cities of London and Westminster, the Suburbs and other Places, with Pure Spring Water. Together with a Section from the Wells at Bushey Meadows near Watford to Oxford Street, through the Stanmore Heath & Child's Hill Reservoirs and the Line of Main Pipes.'
A striking relic of London's Victorian water wars: the map and section issued by the London (Watford) Spring Water Company, whose 1852 Bill proposed piping pure chalk-spring water from wells at Bushey Meadows near Watford into London. Drawn under the company's engineer S. C. Homersham and lithographed by C. F. Cheffins of Holborn, it runs from Richmond to Hampstead, Harrow, Stanmore, Barnet and Watford, with the proposed works in red and a section from the wells to Oxford Street. Dissected and linen-backed for the pocket. The scheme's selling point was purity. Several London companies drew their water from the tidal Thames, which washed the city's sewage back and forth past their intakes. Parliament chose to reform those companies rather than license a rival. The Metropolis Water Act 1852 gave them until 31 August 1855 to stop taking drinking water from the Thames below Teddington Lock, the limit of the tide, and required them to filter it. Once London's water was to come from above the reach of its sewage, Watford's spring water was no longer needed. The Government promised the companies five years free from competition while they built new works, so the Watford Bill was thrown out in 1853.
Size 72 x 61 cm | 28.0 x 24.0 inches
Date Published: 1852
Type: Antique lithographed folding map with hand colour, dissected and linen-backed
Author: Homersham, Samuel Collett
Publication: London (Watford) Spring Water Company
Condition: Good |
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