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Author
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Topic: Water Supplys
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duncan
Senior Member
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posted 08-06-2001 08:32 AM
  
More evidence is coming to light concerning the water supply in castles.
Maurice the Engineer seems to have designed the water supply and pipes in both Newcastle {1171-5} keep and Dover's keep {1180-6} that carried water to various floors.
A samll tank, of which traces remain, in a recess adjoining the high well head on the second floor of Dover keep reaches upwards of 242 feet in depth and is stone lined for a distance of 172 feet after which it narrows from 3 feet 3 inches to 2 feet 9 inches in diameter. On the second floor is a circular storage tank that is 3 feet 6 iches x 2 feet 6 inches deep and is thought to have collected rain water. The lead pipes of 3 1/2 inches in diameter are contemporary with the keep being laid in the thickness of the wall in special arched conduits.*
Henry the 111 seems to have orderd made a good water supply at Westminster Palace following the example of the 12th and 13th century abbeys such as Netley which he founded in 1251.
In 1234 Master William the conduit maker {conductarius} was paid to repair the underground water pipes and to make a new conduit through which the refuse of the kitchens at Westminster flows to the Thames. The king ordered this built on account of the stink of the dirty water which was carried through the halls, which was thought to affect the health of the people who frequented those same halls as he did.+
*Archaeological Journal, LXXXVI, 253-4
+Liberate Roll, 44 Henry 111; Turner, 251
[This message has been edited by duncan (edited 08-06-2001).] |
Erik Schmidt
Senior Member
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posted 08-06-2001 09:26 AM
Water supply is certainly an interesting topic, and usually given much thought by the designers due to it's importance.
Are any other pipes mentioned in english castles other than lead. Teracotta was very common in the Mediterranean regions.
What were the tanks were lined with to make them impermeable to water?OK. The statement concerning the water from the kitchens has me intrigued. How putrid must the water have been for it to be considered a health hazard in the mid 13th century, a time not known for people of clean habits.  More puzzling still is, what in the kitchen could be the source of such putrid water? Erik |
Gordon
unregistered
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posted 08-06-2001 07:41 PM
The putrid chef???Seriously, this is a very interesting topic.
From a Scottish perspective, the ecclesiastical side of architecture seems to have been much more advanced than the secular.
Water supply and sanitation is the epitomy of this, and they appear in the Abbeys at a much earlier date than they did in castles.
A reflection of the wealth of the church maybe? ------------------
'Demeure par la verite'
Visit; Gordon's Scottish Castles Resource Page |
duncan
Senior Member
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posted 08-08-2001 12:30 AM
After the dark ages and somewhere before the 11th century a rivival does seem to have come in the elements of good water supplys via the church and its teachings.
At Canterbury a plan still exists showing the tanks and reservoirs that served all portions of the monastery encluding the infirmary court from a aqueduct and if that failed, water could be drawn from the well and poured into a hollow column that supplied all the offices.
The bath was much more widly used in the early middle ages as well as a Laver {sink}, which is Latin to wash, then thought before now. The Piscinae was found in chapels to wash the chalice and when used for domestic purposes the word Laver can be used to describe the same type of sink in which to wash the hands as well as other items. Often placed in kitchens, before a dining hall door and in what we refer to as Garderobes.
Examples can be found in many castles as well as chaples and mediaeval houses's. The BOOK OF CURTASYE from the 14th century speaks of and puts much emphasis on the cleanlines of the hands before, during and after each meal.
The bath was literaly a bath tub or cask filled with water. Illustrations in manuscripts of the 13 century show Bathsheba in her tub. +
Often times other manusripts show there is a conversation going on between persons in adjoining tubs.
Some had a tent or canopy arrangement with a stool for comfort. In some of the tubs which are larger there are a number of people sharing the water as Mr Lawrence Wrights study shows.*
Many of the tubs had a fill pipe and a waste pipe, instead of haveing to be bailed out by bucket. Those pipes were made of lead,copper, or gilded bronze and many had taps, spouts, and some had stoppers made of stone.
One illustration of 1415 shows a long bath resembling the modern shape of today, it also shows the occupant being assassinated by three men in armour. ^
A description of Edwards 11s bathroom at Westminster in 1325 gives a accounting of the materials used for the construction as well as the 2000 tiles made of lime concrete for the floor.
Also there are many good examples of the way water was heated which included special furnaces or pots that were heated in situ and not just filled. With pipes that carried hot and cold water for many yards across moats or to the baths in upper storys from cisterns.
Many of the sinks and pipes have been removed during the ages but some are being found to still exist in the walls and flooring of many castles as renovation takes place.
The provision for a bath was an act of hospitality to an important guest or traveler . Certainly royalty had more elaborate arrangements in the form of bathrooms akin to those used today but evidence is being brought to light that even the small house holds had bathing capibilitys and the means to wash the hands was not as uncommom as many have thought. !Salzman, 268; J.Willis Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of Christ Church in Canterbury, 159-90
+Pierpoint Morgan Library, M 638, fol. 41v; Holmes {1953} 98, 19
*Wright {1960}, 40-6. ect.
^Bibliotheque de l'arsenal, Paris, MS. 5193; reproduced in Salzman 1929, 107.
[This message has been edited by duncan (edited 08-08-2001).] |
Peter
Member
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posted 08-08-2001 04:31 PM
Yet all was not as it should be, even into the Industrail Revolution.
It is said that Prince Albert died of a fever caught at Windsor Castle.
The Installation of a new bathroom above the Queen's Drawing Room. Had the plumbers (!) venting all the pipes over the top of the Drawing Room window.
Castle kitchens normally had a stone cut gully running down the centre. Into which most of the waste was thrown (bulky waste would of course be carried out).
If this was not washed down on a regular basis, and had a good outlet. Say to the moat. A stench would soon result.
Add to this that many kitchens were a secondary structure.
An excellent list of allied structures can be found in Margaret Wood's, The English Mediaeval House.
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duncan
Senior Member
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posted 08-08-2001 05:54 PM
Yes her book does contain many good examples and lists of the plumbing and water supplys in houses and castles. Her research was very indepth of the other works that had been done before hers and those make for even better reading.
The church is still the best example of early plumbing and cleanliness after the Roman era in the UK. | |
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