In the 1600s, an ambitious plan to bring fresh
water into the expanding city of London
envisaged the construction of a "New
River". The plan was to bring water from
near Ware in Hertfordshire by constructing a
waterway that in the end was nearly 40 miles
long. At the height of the construction in
1612 more than 300 men were involved in the
work. The path of the waterway came along
what is now Rosebery Avenue and into a series of
ponds that were located just beyond the railings
seen above. This was known as New River
Head and the site was opened officially in 1613
when the water from Hertfordshire flowed into
the ponds and the various buildings on the site
had been completed. The large round pond
continued to be used until 1914 and it wasn't
until 1946 that the last of the filter beds were
taken out of use. This attractive, Grade
II Listed, art deco building was added in 1936 -
38 as the company's laboratory, research centre
and offices. It sits on the site of one of
the filter beds that surrounded the round
pond.
When it was listed in 1972, it was
described as, "Steel frame faced with
Himley bricks of brownish-red colour set in
stretcher bond (with vertically laid bricks
above 1st floor of front block) and Portland
stonedressings; hollow tile roof and floor
construction, plate glass windows and glass
brick panels. Long curved plan to main axis
articulated in powerful horizontal
expression; attached entrance foyer and
semi-circular glazed staircase projection of
strong vertical design forms front block on
a right angle (cross axis) and faces
Arlington Way and Rosebery Avenue. Modern
Movement manner." Inside was
an, "... outstanding circular
cantilevered staircase with wrought-iron
balusters, bronze handrail; stair treads and
hall floor of terrazzo, all lit by
full-height panels of glazed bricks and
surmounted by a blue ceiling over the
stairwell upon which F P Morton incised a
figure of Aquarius surrounded by stars in
plaster and gilt; other period details
include square lighting wall fittings
mounted on copper backs, and wood figurative
relief sculpture panels above some of the
doorways."
The seal of "The Company
of the New River" (seen below) depicts the
hand of Providence bestowing rain upon the
city and its motto was "et plui super
unam civitatem" meaning "and I
rained upon one city".
Eventually, the Company
of the New River became the Thames Water
Authority, and when it was privatized in
1989, all the buildings on the site were
converted into private dwellings including
The Laboratory.
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