St Augustine's Conduit House
We're back with the local adventures and this time we've returned to Canterbury for St Augustine's Conduit House which is effectively the water supply to the nearby abbey. This was a common thing back in the medieval period due to fears that the local rivers and streams may be polluted. The conduit house would tap into springs near the building via tunnels, in this case four, and through several smaller ducts brought water into a collection tank that was then piped to the abbey through a lead pipe. This was then diverted as they saw fit when it reached the abbey. Obviously when the Big Bully King dissolved all the monasteries the conduit house was no longer required and by 1733 ownership had passed to Sir John Hales as he owned the reservoir. He then modified the house which divided the tank and added a new roof to it as well as allowing Canterbury to use it and the reservoir to supplement its water supply. Aside from some other renovations in the 19th century, St Augusti...
