The Vauxhall Water Company originated as the South London Waterworks Company which had been incorporated in 1805 taking its supply from the Effra at Vauxhall Creek. This supply was becoming polluted and silted up in the 1820s and in 1834 a new Act was acquired altering the name of the company, increasing its area of supply and authorising new intakes.
In 1761 the London Bridge Waterworks Company acquired the rights to supply water to Southwark and extended their mains across the bridge (a very early cross-river supply). In 1822 the Act was passed to remove old London Bridge and its waterworks. The new owners of operations, the New River Company, sold their interest south of the Thames to John Edwards Vaughan who joined it to his existing Bankside works to form the Southwark Water Works.
In 1845 new works were built at Battersea on the approximate side of the Power Station and in 1855 an intake from the Thames was introduced at Hampton. Wells were also sunk at Streatham, Honor Oak and Merton Abbey in 1888 and 1902. In 1861 the Company took over the Richmond Water Company.
The Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company was incorporated in 1845 and was formed by an amalgamation of two earlier undertakings, the Southwark and the Vauxhall companies.
In 1718 a grant was made by the City of London to Francis Wilkinson to supply water to Southwark, procuring water from the Thames.
In 1761 the London Bridge Water Works bought this business from a James Whitchurch whose father had acquired it from Wilkinson. In 1822 the New River Company took over the London Bridge Water Works and sold this Southwark interest to a Mr Edwards Vaughan who, in 1820, had become the proprietor of another undertaking, the Borough Waterworks. Having acquired the two concerns Edwards Vaughan consolidated them at Bankside and named them the Southwark Water Works.
In July 1834 the Southwark Water Company was incorporated and empowered to buy up Vaughan's undertaking and to construct new works at Battersea. The old intake at Bankside was abandoned at the same time and a temporary supply was taken from the Lambeth Company.
The South London Water Works Company was incorporated in 1805 and originally drew its water from the Effra which flowed into the Thames at Vauxhall Creek. The company constructed works at Kennington and Vauxhall Bridge. In 1832 the supply of water from the Effra was abandoned. Two years later the company changed its name to the Vauxhall Water Works Company and a limitation on its right to supply part of Lambeth and Newington (already within the Lambeth Water Works Company's area) was lifted at the same time by statute.
Between 1839 and 1842 there was a period of unfruitful competition between the Vauxhall company and the Southwark and Lambeth companies. Eventually in 1845 the Southwark and the Vauxhall companies were amalgamated to form The Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company.
The works at Kennington were dismantled and conveyed to the Phoenix Gas Company in 1847.
The Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company acquired land at Hampton in 1851 and in 1852 an Act was obtained to sanction the construction of new works and to enlarge the authorised supply area.
In 1870 the company began filtering the water at Hampton and the following year, in order to prepare for the introduction of constant supply, decided to construct four covered reservoirs at Nunhead. Peckham, to be supplied with filtered water from Hampton.
A high service reservoir was built on Forest Hill in 1887 and a pumping station at Wandsworth was brought into use in 1891 for pumping to Wimbledon and the higher levels. Wells were sunk at Streatham in 1888 and later at Honor Oak (1901) and Merton Abbey (1902).
Throughout the 1890s additions were made to the Hampton works and by 1903 the company was able to dispense with the Battersea Works.
As a result of the Metropolis Water Act 1902, the Metropolitan Water Board took over the functions of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company in 1904. When it did so the company was in the course of constructing storage reservoirs at Honor Oak and Walton.
- National Archives: SOUTHWARK AND VAUXHALL WATER COMPANY: corporate records .
- Source: Link.
1845 Company formed by the amalgamation of the Southwark Co and the Vauxhall Waterworks Co, which was originally established under the title of the South London Waterworks[1]
Between 1845 and 1847 the Vauxhall Company's works at Vauxhall Bridge were abolished and the united Company's works were concentrated at Battersea.
1850 Sir W. Clay, chairman of the Grand Junction and Southwark and Vauxhall companies, wrote a report on the state of water supply in London but his claims about the purity of the water taken from the Thames drew a sceptical response[2]
1852 The Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company Bill went through Parliament[3] This allowed a change of the source of supply from Battersea to Hampton. The company arranged to supply Putney
1854 Complaints in the press about interruptions in supply lasting days[4]
1856 The company started to supply Wimbledon
1871 Captain Tyler reported to the Board of Trade about the problems in supply by the company and remedies they should adopt[5]
1875 Public concern about the safety of the new reservoir at Nunhead prompted a response to The Times by the company; Messrs Quick and Son had supervised the work, which had been constructed by John Aird and Sons[6]
1876 As result of considerable disquiet, the company's accounts were examined and restated; a new engineer had been appointed who had improved efficiency but whose inspection of the new Peckham facilities had led to such concern that he did not want to fill them until further consideration had been given to the construction[7]
1876 Thomas William Rumble was Chief Engineer to the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Co when Alfred James Corry was articled to him.
1877 An outside inspection had criticised the positioning of the existing works at Nine Elms; the company had obtained land at Hampton to build new works but had not taken action on this[8]
1877 The company supplied 180,000 premises; it was said to be the "worst and dearest" in London, the water being "full of organisms"; the company had refused to permit meters being used but charged by rateable value[9]
1884 Complaints continued about disruptions in customer's supplies[10]. A new deep well (260 ft) at Tooting had interfered with water supplies from older traditional wells[11]
Where in Tooting was this deep well, I wonder?
1891 There had been failures in the mains from Hampton but more engine power was also needed there; several more reservoirs were needed at Nunhead; a well was planned at Streatham but no reservoir[12]. In response to the delineation of problems in supply, the engineer of the company, Mr Restler, said that c.76 percent of the houses supplied by the company were on constant supply[13]
1891 Completion of iron subway under the Thames near Kingston Bridge (using the techniques developed for the City and South London Electruc Railway) for a second water mains from Hampton to Nunhead[14]
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.
etc etc
In 1850 the company's water was described by the microbiologist Arthur Hassall as "the most disgusting which I have ever examined".[1]
The Metropolis Water Act 1852 was enacted "to make provision for securing the supply to the Metropolis of pure and wholesome water". Under the Act, it became unlawful for any water company to extract water for domestic use from the tidal reaches of the Thames after 31 August 1855, and from 31 December 1855 all such water was required to be "effectually filtered".[4]
In the meantime, an outbreak of cholera in 1854 led to the deaths of an estimated 4,267 people supplied by the company. [5]
To comply with the legislation, the Southwark and Vauxhall Company built new waterworks in Hampton between Molesey and Sunbury Locks in 1855. The site was shared in a joint venture with the Grand Junction Waterworks Company and the West Middlesex Waterworks Company. The company also constructed the Stain Hill Reservoirs and a 36-inch-diameter (910 mm) direct water main to Battersea, its main network of smaller mains spreading out along the route. A third reservoir was opened later in the year between Nunhead Cemetery and Peckham Rye.[1]
[Wikipedia: Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company]
The reservoirs were still present on this map of 1897 - sometime after, Battersea Power Station was built on the site. Construction began 1929.
The proposal was made in 1927 for a station built in two stages and capable of generating 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity when complete.[14] The site chosen was a 15-acre (61,000 m2) plot of land which had been the site of the reservoirs for the former Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company.[15] The site was chosen for its proximity to the River Thames for cooling water and coal delivery, and because it was in the heart of London, the station's immediate supply area.[16]
The proposal sparked protests from those who felt that the building would be too large and would be an eyesore, as well as worries about the pollution damaging local buildings, parks and even paintings in the nearby Tate Gallery. The company addressed the former concern by hiring Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to design the building's exterior. He was a distinguished architect and industrial designer, famous for his designs for the red telephone box and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He subsequently designed another London power station, Bankside, which now houses Tate Modern art gallery.[14] The pollution issue was resolved by granting permission for the station on the condition that its emissions were to be treated, to ensure they were "clean and smokeless".[15
[Wikipedia: Battersea Power Station]
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