How water oiled the wheels of the city

CHEW valley lake, the vast manmade reservoir that supplies most ofthe Bristol area with its water, may be only 30 per cent full afterthis long dry spell but nobody - even Bristol Water- seems to beparticularly worried.

When full the reservoir holds enough water to supply the regionfor 60 days before it runs dry - and we should surely get somerainfall before that happens.

In 1976, a memorable hot, dry, summer, it didn't rain for 38 days,but that's exceptional.

But imagine what it was like in early Victorian times, before anyof the reservoirs tapping the copious Mendip springs were built, andthere were no taps to just turn on for the thirsty citizens ofBristol.

For their needs they had only their age-old wells and springs.

In medieval times Bristol was known as a healthy city but by mid-Victorian days it had the reputation as the third most unhealthy cityin the country, being beaten only by Liverpool and Manchester in themortality stakes.

So what went wrong?

Long ago Bristol's position on an elevated freedraining sandstoneridge between two rivers - the Avon and the Frome - was envied.

With copious springs coming off Brandon Hill and the slopes ofKnowle, the citizens seemed to be especially endowed by God - ornature - with as much fresh water as they needed.

Nearly every street could boast its ample, canopied supply or awooden water trough presented to the people by nearby monks.

At least two churches - St Nicholas' on the city walls and ChristChurch - had wells within their walls for ecclesiastical use.

Water was seen as so important that the clergy offered lifeeverlasting "to all who shall bestow upon a monastery a healingspring".

The building of even a small reservoir was regarded as of equalimportance to, say, the erection of a bridge: "Letting out of ponds",or the deliberate wasting of water, was seen as a crime equivalent towitchcraft and carried the death penalty.

The most important water source for Bristolians living in thehistoric heart of the city - where Castle Park is today - was StEdith's, well-known locally as Edywell.

It was very close to St Peter's Church, then one of the mostimportant buildings in the city but now - thanks to Nazi bombers -just a ruin.

Here, a natural spring in the sandstone rock was enclosed by astone building which protected people from the elements as they weredrawing water and helped to stop contamination of the supply.

The stone building - or "Castellette" as it was called - wasrebuilt in the 15th century with money left by Bristol's most famousmerchant prince, William Canynge.

Looking to secure his safe place in the afterlife, Canyge hadactually left the money to William Spencer, who was the Mayor in1474, for purposes that would benefit his soul in purgatory.

But Spencer was nothing if not practical and instead of using themoney to hire priests to pray for Canynge's soul - as was common inthose days - he sank a well, put in a pump and built an almshouse.

I'm sure that this was greatly appreciated by Bristol's citizens,if not its clergy.

In 1586 Ralph Dole, following in Spencer's footsteps, left 20shillings (one pound) per annum towards the well's upkeep.

In Victorian times this sum was still being handed over by thechurchwardens to the Corporation, who had by then taken over themaintainance of the pump - which was now known as St Peter's Cross orPump, after the church nearby.

The well was the focus of community life - with much coming andgoing - and we know that there were May Day celebrations around amaypole here in 1661.

But in 1766 the Corporation decided to do away with the buildingand the cross as they were causing traffic congestion and they weresold - along with the ancient High Cross - to wealthy banker HenryHoare. He fitted them into his landscaped gardens which were thenbeing constructed for him at his mansion at Stourhead, in Wiltshire.

We should be grateful, as they are preserved there to this day,and would otherwise be lost to us forever.

At this time another well, but keeping the old name, was sunknearby, tapping the same watercourse as the old spring andcontinuing to supply future generations with fine, sparkling water.

By 1887, however, the rivers Frome and Avon had becomecontaminated due to sewage and industrial waste and this affectedmany of the old wells in the city.

With a new, pure water supply from the Mendips coming on stream,the old well was closed down.

The risk of cholera, typhoid and dysentery, all of which hadplagued the city in the past, was just too great to justify keepingit open.

Other wells which had served the city for centuries, such as ThePithay, or Wine Street Conduit, were also closed.

Another well, situated where the St James roundabout is today,called St Marie's Well and yet another, the Beggar's Well - firstrecorded in 1248 - in what is now St Pauls.

Where Lower Park Row meets Colston Street was an ancient meetingof five ways and a popular public water source, the Stype StreetFountain. This was well known because of the cross erected on itsroof.

Lastly, there was a Pilgrim's Well at the rear of what is now theThistle Hotel in Broad Street. For those who couldn't get to thewells, or other public supplies, there was the water -leder, orcarrier.

In London these gentlemen bore yolks across their shoulders - justlike old time milkmaids with buckets - called tankers or tynes.

These men, the Guild of St.Christopher, guarded their ancientprivileges. They appointed officer and fixed their scale of chargesaccording to the trade being serviced, such as cooks, brewers etc.

There must have been something similar in Bristol as a 14thcentury archive makes a reference: "That no water-leder take water atthe Avon or Froom, or in any other place whatsoever, except it bepure and clear, under a penalty of 12 pence so often as may be."

The last descendants of these old time "leders'"sold water at apenny a bucket from the Paddywell, at Stoke Bishop, to the cooks andservants at the big houses on Durdham Down.

The disused pump on the pavement of Parry's Lane was,unfortunately, taken away for scrap iron as part of the war effort of1942.