SEnine
Ancient Water The
route of an ancient supply of water to Eltham Palace has
come to light following a recent report in SEnine.
An old map showing the precise location of the water supply as it passes under Eltham in lead piping is in the possession SE9 resident Tony Metcalfe.
It shows the connection between the recently refurbished Conduit Head, off Southend Crescent, and the Palace.
The water supply was first installed in the 16th century but in recent years the only clear evidence for it was the brick structure alongside Holy Trinity vicarage.
Mr Metcalfe came across the map in the 1970s when he was working as a BT telephone engineer in central London.
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a spring near the Eltham Warren Golf Clubhouse. It reaches the Conduit along the north side of Bexley Road before running parallel to Butterfly Lane under houses on the east side of Oakways.
To reach the Palace from the settlement tanks at Conduit Head, the water runs in lead piping, under the boiler room at St Thomas More School and to the pond at the northern edge of the Royal Blackheath Golf Club. From there, it runs to the Palace, originally under the paving of the Moat Bridge.
The map shows spurs, presumably added at a later date, running to a number of homes
hand made replacements.
Graffiti and rubbish has been removed from the inner chamber with new secure grilles put in place to prevent future access.
Its importance historically reflects the leading role of Eltham Palace in the Royal
Conduit Head
Southend Crst
Royal Blackheath Golf Club House
“I had to visit the Ministry of Works one day and came across a room with a large number of old maps. I asked if there were any relating to Eltham and I was shown the map, dating from 1838, with details of the water supply to the Palace”, he said.
The Ministry made him a copy which he has retained and extrapolated on to modern maps, showing where it runs under existing buildings.
Tony’s map shows that the water was channelled through wooden pipes from
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Footscray Road Butterfly lane
along its track, in particular to what was Eltham Lodge, now the Royal Blackheath clubhouse. A short spur can still be seen to the east of the Moat Bridge at the Palace, possibly an overflow.
Information boards are soon to be installed at Conduit Head, one of the oldest brick built structures in the capital, to explain its history.
The recent renovations by English Heritage and Greenwich Council cost £15,000, securing the brickwork and filling gaps with
estate in Tudor Times; Henry VIII spent his early years here and returned periodically to hunt and escape diseases which afflicted central London.
The innovation of a fresh water supply on tap was matched only by a similar arrangement at Hampton Court, with similar structures still existing.
Such was the importance of the water source that it is thought that guards would have been stationed in the Conduit to avoid the possibility of contamination.
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North Park
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