More information : TQ 3921 7745: conduit system.
Recorded during the RCHME Greenwich Park Survey, Sep-1993 to Feb-1994.
A system of underground tunnels, constructed of brick probably in the late 17th/early 18th century, to carry water north towards the Royal Hospital for Seamen (now the National Maritime Museum).
This conduit system consists of a main passage and a number of branch tunnels. The main passage runs north-east to south-west and is entered at the north-eastern end. Near the south-western end there is a small chamber from which a branch tunnel runs northwards. Two other branch tunnels run southwards from the main passage, one from the north-eastern end and another near the small chamber.
These conduits served to gather surplus groundwater from the gravel subsoil, which acted as a natural aquifer, and funnelled it towards a single collecting point. The surviving tunnels comprise the upper end of this dendritic drainage system; the main passage was fed by the two branch tunnels joining on the southern, uphill side. In turn, the main passage channelled water from either end towards the small collecting chamber in the centre of the system. From here, the water ran north-westwards down the third tunnel which served as the 'stem'. This tunnel has been blocked by roof collapses, but originally connected with a vaulted reservoir at TQ 3906 7744.
A fully referenced description is contained in the archive.
See location plan at 1:1000 scale archived under record TQ 37 NE 69 (UID 610590) (1) |