Geology Site Account

Historical site only

In 1873 the East London Waterworks Company acquired a water mill in what is now Lower Hall Lane, the mill was demolished and a turbine house built over the mill stream. In 1885 a well was sunk through the London Clay, Reading Beds, Thanet Sand and into the underlying Chalk which it encountered at a depth of 141 feet. The well continued through the Chalk, with its characteristic bands of flints, and terminated at a depth of 451 feet. It was an artesian well which means that the water, which was said to be of exceptional purity, initially filled the entire well and overflowed at the surface. Due to the shape of the London Basin, water in the permeable Chalk beneath London (originally rain water that has fallen on the North Downs and the Chilterns) is confined under pressure beneath the London Clay and when released forms an artesian well. Such was the success of this well that a second well was sunk into the Chalk some years later.

In 1895 a delightful red brick pumping station was built and the whole pumping station complex, with its turbine house and railings, is now a listed building. It is situated near the old toll bridge in Lower Hall Lane. In 2007 planning consent was granted for the conversion of the disused pumping station into flats.