Sir Hugh Myddelton and the New River

1. Sir Hugh Myddelton and the New River 2013 is the 400th Anniversary of the opening of the New River

2. 400 Years ago there were no taps to provide water.

3. In London men collected water from wells and springs and even rivers, and carried it to people’s homes where they would sell it

4. As London grew bigger fresh, clean water became scarce and people had to use water which had already been used , often from the River Thames.

5. Diseases spread and people were often sick.

6. Hugh Myddelton was a citizen of London and a businessman. He was always looking for ways to earn a living, but he also wanted to improve the lives of Londoners.

7. He had the idea of building a man-made river which would bring fresh water from the springs of Hertfordshire to the City of London

8. He raised a lot of money from a group of investors called “the adventures”, and work began to build the river in 1609.

9. However the job was more difficult than expected, and the people who owned the land through which the New River passed tried to stop the work.

10. After a year Hugh ran out of money and asked the king, James 1,st to help him. Fortunately, the king agreed to give him the money to finish the job.

11. The New River finally opened on September 29th 1613, 400 years ago.

12. When it was first built the New River was 10ft wide, 4ft deep and 38 miles long. It was so long because it always had to slope downwards to keep the water flowing.

13. Over the years the river has been shortened to 27 miles by raising it up on aquaducts to avoid dips, and lowering it down through tunnels to avoid mounds.

14. The New River ended its journey at the New River Head in Islington where the water flowed into a reservoir called the Round Pond.

15. A small piece of the edge of the pond can still be seen in the gardens which are through the gate on MyddeltonPassage.

16. From the Round Pond the water flowed to the houses in the city through elm wood pipes. Small boys used to make holes in the pipes to create fountains. 200 years ago the elm pipes were replaced by iron pipes.

17. As houses grew taller the flow of water needed to be stronger to reach the top floors, and so a new reservoir was created on higher ground. This was called the Upper Pond .

18. Today the Upper Pond is known as Claremont Square.

19. First a windmill, and then a steam engine were built to pump water up from the Round Pond to the Upper Pond.

20. The bottom of the windmill and the building in which the steam engine was housed can still be seen from Amwell Street

21. You can see many parts of the New river today as it makes its way from Amwell village in Hertfordshire to Amwell Street in London.

22. Sometimes it runs under the ground in a big pipe and all you can see is a path. The New River still supplies 8% of London’s water.

23. And what happened to Hugh Myddelton? Everyone was very grateful for the fresh water, and the King made him a baronet and he became Sir Hugh.