Rare chance to see Underground Victorian Reservoir soon to be demolished

[sarah]

Clayton Le Woods  Victorian Reservoir in Lancashire

Yesterday we had the rare chance to see one of the oldest underground brick vaulted reservoirs in Lancashire. Built in 1884 to provide clean water to Leyland, the reservoir was the main source of water up until the 1940's when a larger one was built to service the expanding local population.

Interestingly because the water was being drawn from deep underground it contained high levels of minerals which made the water “hard”. The hard water required higher levels of soap and caused a calcium build up within the pipes of steam engines and boilers which became a headache for the local industry.  Local folks initially started collecting the softer rain water for wash day, but soon a new local source of softer was found and water supply was switched over on Sunday night in time for the Monday Wash day.

The reservoir is now due to be demolished later this week for a new housing development by Kingswood Homes, who very kindly are allowing public access with the help of Chorley Historical and Archaeology Society. A booklet has also been produced which includes an extract from the Preston Guardian dated 4th August 1883 which lists the engineers who built it, the designers Mr William Wrenall of Liverpool and the notable guests who inspected the works all those years ago.

[Mike in Cumbria]

Fantastic photos - that must have been an exciting visit.

Mike

[Maggie.]

How interesting to see those photos Sarah - I bet that was a fascinating visit and thanks for sharing.  Did they use Accrington brick?

In the 1970s our civil engineer son was involved in an ODA scheme to inspect and jet out the underground drainage system of Lahore, Pakistan. (He has many tales to tell  ).

The system had been designed and installed by Victorian engineers and many parts were in dire need of renewal due to neglect.  Accrington bricks had been used.

Maggie

[Mike in Cumbria]

There are some very good images of ghosts in both photos  too.

[sarah]

It is pretty amazing how we are all still using all these amazing structures built by the Victorian Civil engineers, had no idea that they had been helping out in Lahore Pakistan  ( ha ha can only imagine some of the stories)

"Accy" bricks are really strong tough bricks, was not too sure what they used down here was very dark.

The ghosts are all the visitors moving around, even on a Tuesday afternoon the place was full, in one day they had over 700 people!! It goes to show that people are interested in our local heritage and I thought is was very generous of the house-builder to allow access all for free!

Sarah

[Ruskie]

Fascinating stuff Sarah - thank you for sharing the photos. It's a crying shame it is being demolished - wonderful workmanship lost forever. Very sad as I'm sure it would have been of ongoing interest to many. 

[janan]

Thanks for sharing Sarah.

The booklet you mention can be downloaded here

http://kingswoodhomes.uk.com/pages/clayton_le_woods_history.php

It is a shame it is to be demolished but apparently it is neither a rare nor exceptional example

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-24579432

Jan

[Bill Ellson]

Sarah,

Thank you for the photographs. It is always a pity to see such a structure demolished, but I hope that proper drawings and other records are being preserved. The Victorians invariably over-engineered such structures making allowance for inevitable wear and tear / deterioration. In the long term such an approach is the cheapest way of providing infrastructure but in the last sixty years or so such projects have always been skimmed and trimmed leading to further high expenditure a few decades down the line.

[Ruskie]

It is a shame it is to be demolished but apparently it is neither a rare nor exceptional example
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-24579432

Still prefer that to an anonymous housing estate.