Erection date: 1870
On this spot stood a conduit house which supplied the precincts of Westminster with water till the spring was cut off by drainage in 1861. The building was removed in 1868 & this memorial erected in 1870 to mark the place where it stood.
This plaque, which was on the east face of the plinth (the back in our photo), has 'disappeared' since the photograph was taken. also has a photo of it in situ.
Site: Abbey Spring monument (2 memorials)
W2, Hyde Park, to east of Serpentine Bar and Kitchen
The river Westbourne used to run though Hyde Park following the course of what is now the Long Water and the Serpentine and left the Park at what is now Albert Gate. It was culverted and rerouted through the Park sometime in the mid 1800s by which time it was more a sewer than a sparkling stream. So it ran very close to the spring from which Westminster Abbey was supplied with water. We wonder whether the phrase "the spring was cut off by drainage in 1861" indicates that the water supply had become contaminated from the river and so was discontinued.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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