Conduit head

High Green, Cannock, Staffordshire

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Overview

A conduit head, dating from 1736; the costs met by public subscription. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1344626
Date first listed:: 14-Jun-1951
List Entry Name:: Conduit head
Statutory Address:: High Green, Cannock, Staffordshire

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Date:: 2002-06-18
Reference:: IOE01/05597/20
Rights:: © Mr J J Sheridan. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1344626
Date first listed:: 14-Jun-1951
Date of most recent amendment:: 29-Oct-2014
List Entry Name:: Conduit head
Statutory Address 1:: High Green, Cannock, Staffordshire

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: High Green, Cannock, Staffordshire

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Staffordshire
District:: Cannock Chase (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SJ9794210209

Summary

A conduit head, dating from 1736; the costs met by public subscription.

Reasons for Designation

The conduit head in Cannock is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: as a well-preserved mid-C18 conduit head, notable for its classical design; * Historic interest: as a testament to the provision of a safe and comprehensive municipal water supply; * Group value: it forms a group with other listed buildings including the Council House (Grade II*), the gates and railings (Grade II) to the Council House, and several Grade II listed buildings on the opposite side of High Green.

History

The Cannock Conduit Trust was established in 1736 to provide a constant supply of clean water to the town which had previously suffered water shortages during the summer months. Pipes were laid from a spring in Stringer's Meadow in Leacroft, south-east of Cannock, to carry water some three kilometres to a stone conduit head or house which was erected in High Green in the centre of the town. The costs were met by public subscriptions. From here the water was distributed to pumps around the town, and by 1864 there were six pumps. Following the introduction of the conduit system, the quality of Cannock’s water was said to be second only to that of Malvern. Despite the establishment of the South Staffordshire Waterworks Company in 1853, which led to an improved water supply to the town, the Trust continued to supply water until 1942 when mining subsidence meant that piping became impossible. A plaque recording the origins of the conduit system was added to the conduit head in 1950. The building was restored in 1984 and 2000.

Details

A conduit head, dating from 1736; the costs met by subscription.

MATERIALS: constructed of sandstone ashlar with a stone-flagged pyramidal roof surmounted by a ball finial.

PLAN: hexagonal on plan

EXTERIOR: the building stands two storeys high and has a low sandstone plinth. There are two rectangular openings in the south-east elevation. To the ground floor is a low doorway which is blocked with sandstone blocks, and the opening above has a wooden shutter. An inscribed plaque (added in 1950) on the south-west side of the building reads: Cannock Conduit Trust / founded 1736 / By Public Subscription for bringing a water / supply to the Township of Cannock. / This building was erected in the year 1736 / as the Conduit Head for the water / brought by pipe from Stringer’s Meadow / Rumer Hill Leacroft. The source of / water being given by Dr. William Byrche / of Leacroft Hall. The undertaking was / endowed by the Lord of the Manor the / Earl of Uxbridge, the Lord Bishop of Worcester / Sir Robert Fisher and others and later became / a registered Charity and served the Township / of Cannock for over 200 years.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURE: a cast-iron water pump stands adjacent to the conduit head and was re-located here from elsewhere in the town in the early C21. It is not included in the listing.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 271283
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cannock Conduit Trust, , The Story of Cannock Town Centre Through The Ages, (2004)
Websites
Cannock Chase Heritage Trail, accessed from http://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/HeritageTrail/high_green.html
Cannock: Manors and economic history, A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 5 (1959), pp. 49-63. , accessed from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53397
Midlands Heritage Cannock Conduit Head , accessed from http://www.midlandsheritage.co.uk/miscellaneous-heritage/6128-cannock-conduit-head.html
Staffordshire past-track, Bowling Green, Cannock, accessed from http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?resource=3254

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

The listed building(s) is/are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.