The Netherbow Wellhead - High Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
N 55° 57.033 W 003° 11.114
30U E 488432 N 6200591
An historical marker about the Netherbow Wellhead is located on High Street (also known as the Royal Mile) in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Waymark Code: WMEYF1
Location: Southern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/22/2012
Views: 11
The historical marker is a bronze plaque attached to the historic wellhead. It reads:
"The Netherbow Wellhead
This wellhead or cistern, is the oldest of the surviving cisterns, designed by Sir William Bruce, Surveyor of the Royal Works, and the first built by Robert Mylne, Kings Master Mason, in around 1675. It has since been rebuilt.
The cisterns provided water from Comiston Springs via the Castlehill Reservoir for the inhabitants of the Old Town.
The Netherbow Wellhead was repaired and restored to use with a basin and running drinking water by the Edinburgh Old Town Renewal Trust and Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Limited in 1997."
A nearby information sign provides this additional information about the Netherbow Wellhead:
"To your left is one of the old water tanks or cisterns which were the only water supply in the Old Town until 1822. By the 1780s, this system could not provide enough water for the city's growing population. To limit demand, the water was only turned on for three hours, at midnight. Those who could afford it paid water caddies to collect their water for them, to avoid getting up in the middle of the night."
Type of Historic Marker: Bronze plaque
Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Edinburgh Old Town Renewal Trust & Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Limited
Age/Event Date: 01/01/1675
Related Website: [Web Link]
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