Public Places
The wardens hold workshops on how to build insect hotels ...
maintained at 100mm. The artificial cricket wicket is available
for rent between April and September and, as well as being used by cricket teams, is popular with fitness clubs who to use it for exercise practices. The wicket has been down for many years and there are plans to install a new one soon. The park also provides two artificial net practice wicket with cages. The cricket outfield is usually cut
weekly, generally on a Thursday to accommodate weekend matches, maintaining a height around 25mm. The wicket is set right in front of the house and provides a lovely backdrop for a game of cricket.
The two rugby pitches are usually cut within twenty-four hours of any fixtures. The four football pitches are mown to a height of 25-50mm. The Scion staff carry out checks on all football goals, rugby post and cricket nets every Monday and Friday to ensure they meet health and safety requirements. Linemarking is undertaken on a weekly
... hedge laying and other country crafts
basis using a spray jet linemarker. Harrowing and spiking of the winter sports pitches is carried out twice monthly from September to March, weather permitting, with aeration tines set between 100-150mm. During the summer months the outfield is slit tined monthly.
End of season renovations are carried out on the areas surrounding the wicket and practice nets. These are aerated, scarified, reseeded and topdressed, in September, to rejuvenate worn sections, whilst the football and rugby pitches are scarified, aerated, topdressed and overseeded in May. The tarmacadam tennis courts are inspected daily, swept and kept clean and free of litter debris. Our next port of call was the old ice house, a subterranean brick structure, used for the storage of ice and, in turn, the preservation of food. When ice is packed together, its relatively small surface area slows down the thawing process. The ice would last longer when kept at a regular low temperature and
Brian Clarke at the entrance to the Ice House
insulated by straw, thick walls and a roof. Ice houses were usually located close to a water source, such as a lake, in order to easily harvest the ice in the depths of winter. They were pretty efficient, with the ice lasting as long as eighteen months.
On entering the ice house, I was shown some very large spiders that have made it their home. The wardens are quite proud of the fact they have this spider, the Orb- weaving spider (Meta bourneti), residing in their park as it is considered quite rare and, I confess, a touch scary! Whilst on the subject of ecology, the
wardens hold workshops on how to build insect hotels, hedge laying and other country crafts. Marble Hill Park is still providing a place to be seen socialising, carrying on the tradition of Henrietta when she was in residence and
entertaining her guests some 280 years ago. It’s a valuable asset for the people of downtown Twickenham.
over three miles, under the River Thames, to Hampton Court Palace. All of these building still survive.
In addition to the conduit houses, the system contained six Tampkins (or Tamkins) which were smaller buildings along the route, some of which had additional tanks for further filtering of sediment, and all had a type of stopcock or ‘tamp’ which could be used to isolate sections of the system for works to be carried out. Unfortunately only one of
these buildings - Gallows Tampkin - still survives.
This system of supplying fresh water is not unique; indeed, English Heritage care for two other conduit houses near Canterbury and Oxford, but it is almost certainly one of the largest ever constructed and was in constant use for over 350 years, from when it was constructed in the early 16th Century until it was finally abandoned in 1876. It is estimated that over ninety tonnes of
lead were used in the pipe system.
Anyone who wishes to find out more details on the whole system should read The Conduit Houses of Coombe - the ancient water supply to Hampton Court Palace by Patricia Panizzo and Sue Lown, available for £3 from Richard Fishenden (
richard.fishenden@
holycrossprep.com).
All proceeds go towards the upkeep of the conduit houses.
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014 PC 75
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