New River Co

1602 Edmund Colthurst first proposed the idea of building an artificial river to bring spring water into London.

1606 The New River was commissioned by the Corporation of the City of London to carry water from the Chadwell and Amwell Springs to Islington, London; the course of the river followed the contours of the land and had a gradual fall.

After surveying the route and digging the first two-mile long stretch, Colthurst encountered financial difficulties.

The scheme was completed by Sir Hugh Myddleton between 1609 and 1613. Its official opening took place on 29 September 1613 when water entered the reservoir now called the New River Head at Clerkenwell.

The overall length of the New River was just under 39 miles (even though the direct distance from the springs to London was only 20 miles). A total of 160 bridges were constructed and 60 culverts dug underneath it, to allow passage of brooks, streams, etc. All in all this was a major achievement for the engineers of the time.

1700 Supplemented by water from the River Lee

1767 Robert Mylne was appointed assistant surveyor of the New River Co, to work with Henry Mill.

1771 Mylne was appointed surveyor of the New River Co

1810 Mylne retired from his position with the New River Co

1811 Robert's son William Chadwell Mylne was appointed surveyor

1816 Proposal to amalgamate with the West Middlesex Water Co generated opposition on the grounds that a monopoly serving two-thirds of the Metropolis was not in the customer's interest but it was pointed out that the New River Co would improve its situation by replacing its wooden mains with iron ones. As a result the New River Co, when it introduced pumps, was able to raise water to the higher floors in buildings, something its competitors could not do. In addition the company was delivering pure water rather than water from the river Thames

1816 'It is with the most sincere pleasure that we communicate to our readers any information relative to circumstances will tend to give effectual relief to our suffering manufacturers. We are informed, that the principal houses in the iron trade in Staffordshire, have received an order from the New River Company for a quantity of iron pipe, which to be delivered and laid down as quickly as possible. By the aid of this order, which amounts £150,000, immediate employment is given to that suffering district; and 20,000 persons, including all the different labourers and their families, who were anticipating with dreadful anxiety the approach of a winter without work, are thus provided with the means of subsistence.'

1822 The New River Co purchased the water supply licence of London Bridge Waterworks which had been dissolved. Later that year, Borough Waterworks Co purchased the licence from the New River Company.

1800s Deep wells were dug along the route and pumping stations built.

1838 'SUPPLY OF PURE WATER.— This important object now attracts much attention. On Wednesday a meeting of the inhabitants of St. Pancras was held on the subject of the Artesian wells projected for the supply of pure water to the borough of Marylebone, and various resolutions were carried, expressive of the confidence of the meeting in the soundness of the scheme. Mr. Paton, the projector, went at great length into the subject, with a view to show the result of the labours of Mr. Telford, the engineer appointed by Government to gauge the various springs round London. One of these springs at Beddington Park, produced, Mr. Paton said, a quantity of water equal to 30 cubic feet per second, or 10,800 gallons per minute, which, giving to a million and a half of people 10 gallons per day each, would be more than double the supply required for the whole of London. He (Mr. Paton) believed, however, the most surprising well was that in the parish of St. Pancras, belonging to the New River Company, and called the reservoir, in the Hampstead-road. About a year and a half ago the New River Company sunk that shaft 232 feet deep, and after a space of four months, discovering it was only a sand spring, they shut out the water by means of iron cylinders and went 87 feet lower, when they arrived at the chalk , and although an aperture had been broken in it only one foot in diameter, there had been such a supply ever since, that a 20-horse power steam-engine, working night and day, had been unable to reduce it, and the company had now given it up as a bad job. It was his conviction that that shaft alone would be sufficient — from a calculation he had made — to supply 500 gallons per day to 28,000 houses. The amount required for the supply of the borough of Marylebone, sinking the shafts, laying down pipes, &c., would not exceed £206,752; 10 per cent. upon that amount would be £20,672 19s., and, reckoning current expenses at £8914, would produce a total of £29,586 19s. The present water rental for the parish of Marylebone alone was £49,548, and the rental of the other portions of the borough £33,032, making together £82,586. Deducting from that amount the sum of £29,586 19s. would produce a saving to the whole borough of £53,000 per annum.'

1840 An I.C.E. Paper by Robert William Mylne included a description and illustration of the above-mentioned artesian well sunk at the Hampstead Road by Hunter and English.

1845 William Chadwell Mylne junior was appointed River Surveyor

1850s Many of the river's bends were eliminated, saving 12 miles.

1859 James Muir was appointed Engineer on William Chadwell Mylne senior's retirement.

1875 William Chadwell Mylne junior retired as Surveyor due to ill health.

Some parts of the New River have been piped underground and today the river flows into Stoke Newington reservoir.

1903 Compulsorily acquired by the Metropolitan Water Board, established to bring the 9 private water companies supplying water to London under a single public body.

Bridges

A number of small standardised cast iron arch bridges were installed by the company. See New River Company: Iron Bridges.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• Engineering timelines: Sir Hugh Myddleton [2]
• Wikipedia