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30-692: The facilities at Kempton Park were established in 1897 by the New River Company , which was incorporated into the Metropolitan Water Board in 1903. Kempton Park East and Kempton Park West Reservoirs were completed in 1907. A third smaller reservoir, Red House Reservoir, was also constructed, being supplied by the Staines Reservoirs Aqueduct which passed south of the other reservoirs transporting water to Hampton Water Treatment Works. The pumping station

60-506: A Georgian style of "yellow" stock brick (often now slightly darkened) in Flemish bond and a white banded, stuccoed, to resemble stone-built, ground floor, and save for those stated as replacements, from 1822 to 1843. The square has St Mark's fronting the street on the west side of its garden. All of the houses are Grade II listed , as is the church (protected and recognised in the initial, mainstream statutory category). The square

90-577: A scheme to build an artificial waterway from springs near Ware in Hertfordshire to supply water to London. In 1604 he was granted a patent from King James I to construct the New River. By early 1605, after Colthurst had dug 3 miles (4.8 km) of channel, the City intervened, and began the process of obtaining an act of Parliament despite Colthurst's protests. In 1605, an act of Parliament,

120-494: Is named after Sir Hugh Myddelton (1560–1631), the founder of the New River Company , whose family sold the land on which it was built, drawing a profit by way of overseeing and granting building leases, meaning the upmarket builders shouldered the risk, when built up in later years. Three main approach ways, the broadest being east, are added to by Myddleton Passage, which removed №s 3 and 4 (access to two apartment blocks and their landscaped grounds), but an earlier access to

150-539: Is still operational as a water storage facility. It is secluded and set in woodland which is popular with bats, water voles, grass snakes, newts, frogs and toads. Bats include common noctule ( Nyctalus noctula ), serotine ( Eptesicus serotinus ), Daubenton's bat ( Myotis daubentoni ) and pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus pipistrellus ). 51°25′34″N 0°23′42″W  /  51.426°N 0.395°W  / 51.426; -0.395 New River Company The New River Company , formally The Governor and Company of

180-553: The New River Act 1605 ( 3 Jas. 1 . c. 18) was passed, granting the City the power to construct the New River, but without making any provision for funding, or providing any powers of compulsory purchase . A second act, the New River Act 1606 ( 4 Jas. 1 . c. 12) was passed the following year, making further provisions about the construction of the New River. In 1609, Hugh Myddelton agreed to construct and fund

210-496: The "greate labour and endeavour by him bestowed about the said worke". The New River was officially opened on Michaelmas Day 1613, with a celebration at New River Head , after £18,524 16s had been spent on the project, but the New River Company's investment continued as they laid wooden pipes made of elm throughout the city to distribute the water. The King wrote to the City to encourage them to increase uptake of

240-463: The King (who was trying to become less financially dependent on Parliament at the time) committed to funding half of the project in return for a share of the profits, and promised his support. The King's support was crucial in convincing the remaining landowners to allow the New River over their property. By this point, Myddelton was short of money, and needed a way to raise more funds for his half of

270-414: The King's shares and two of the adventurers' shares. The King's shares also did not confer the right to appoint a director to the board, so these shares traded at a discount to the adventurers' shares. The New River Company originally owned 50 acres (20 ha) of land around New River Head to allow for the many wooden water mains running outward from there. With the advent of iron pipes around 1811,

300-473: The New River Company became a direct ancestor of the current Thames Water company, the main water supplier to London today. Over the 292 years since Myddelton divided his holding in the New River Company into shares, and taking the purchase price into account, the annual yield on an original New River share has been calculated at over 267%. After municipalization , the Crown Clog came to be paid by

330-517: The New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London , was a privately-owned water supply company in London , England, originally formed around 1609 and incorporated in 1619 by royal charter. Founded by Hugh Myddelton with the involvement of King James I , it was one of the first joint-stock utility companies, and paved the way for large-scale private investment in London's water infrastructure in

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360-487: The New River water, as he was becoming anxious about the return on his investment. The New River Company was incorporated by royal charter on 21 June 1619 with Myddelton as governor. However, the charter left a number of aspects unclear: it effectively granted a monopoly on water supply in London, and the City had conferred their water supply rights to Myddelton personally, which had never been transferred. These legal ambiguities would take many years to be resolved. By

390-679: The Water Board, which paid it until 1956 when it was bought out for £8,230. Had the Crown retained the King's share for the lifetime of the New River Company, it would have made fifty times more than the Clog paid. The company's unrelated property holdings were transferred to a new company, the New River Company Limited, which survives today as a subsidiary of Derwent London . Myddelton Square Myddelton Square ,

420-677: The centuries which followed. The New River Company was formed to manage the New River , a 42-mile (68 km) artificial aqueduct which had been completed a few years earlier by Myddelton, with the backing of the King and the City , to supply fresh water to London. During its history, the company maintained a large network of pipes to distribute water around much of North London, collecting rates from water users. The company's headquarters were at New River Head in Clerkenwell , Islington, and

450-508: The company became a significant landowner in the surrounding area, laying out streets which take their name from people and places associated with the company, including Amwell Street, River Street, Mylne Street, Chadwell Street and Myddelton Square . The company was finally dissolved in 1904 when London's water supply was taken into municipal ownership, and its assets were acquired by the newly-formed Metropolitan Water Board . Although London's water supply infrastructure dates back at least to

480-445: The company was able to run larger water mains underground, taking care to run them in a pattern where streets could be laid out above. As the district of Clerkenwell grew up in the area, the New River Company started making significant income from leasing land, as well as supplying water. Many of the streets in the area still bear the names given to them by the New River Company, and the company's chief engineer, William Chadwell Mylne ,

510-536: The construction of the Great Conduit in 1247, by the early 17th century water was still scarce, and most Londoners relied on pumps or water carriers which supplied increasingly polluted water. The City of London had funded several early water works in the 16th century, which supplemented the conduit system by drawing water from the tidal Thames , but these were small operations, and London's population continued to grow. Edmund Colthurst originally conceived

540-507: The habitats for wetland birds, including refuge islands, deep water channels and reed beds. Waders that breed regularly include northern lapwing , common redshank , ringed plover and little ringed plover . The first successful inland breeding in the British Isles of pied avocet was at this reservoir. Other birds recorded include smew , garganey , Temminck's stint , spotted crake and red-necked phalarope . Red House Reservoir

570-683: The largest square in Central London 's Clerkenwell , is a residential public garden square of the 1820s to 1840s, with playground, with many trees; its houses are built with exposed brickwork, Georgian style, with high-ceilinged ground and first-floor storeys. Two of its houses were obliterated and rebuilt, and two declared unsafe and rebuilt, in the London Blitz . Internally, with roads and pavements, it spans 3.84 acres (1.55 ha), as measures 414 feet (126 m) by 370 feet (110 m) from one set of houses fronting, to another. It

600-419: The project. As the New River was unincorporated , the agreement was phrased in terms of property law , with investors owning a share of freehold in the whole project. By early 1610, the project had stalled after around 10 miles (16 km), with some landowners refusing to allow the New River to be built over their land, and members of the public concerned about a public utility being privately-held. A bill

630-444: The project. He split his holding of the New River into 36 parts; the modern concept of a share had not yet fully formed, and the New River shares were a novel concept which could not promise a return of capital, more akin to "tenants in common" in property law. These shares were sold to "adventurers" (shareholders), the first of whom was Henry Neville . Four shares, without any liability for capital calls , were given to Colthurst for

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660-402: The reconstruction. The frontages differ by having full-height brickwork and no ground floor stone-like dressings, like the others. №s 3 and 4 were demolished as they were less damaged by the same bombing campaign. The square was used as the prime location for an important scene in the 2015 film Suffragette . A BBC adaptation of Howards End , by EM Forster , in 2017, used a house as

690-439: The same side was filled in to become new houses, in the same style, 11A and 12A. The dramatist, actor and theatre manager, Thomas John Dibdin (1771–1841) was one of the first residents, at № 7 in 1826-27. №s 43–53 on the north side were destroyed by bombing during The Blitz, mentioned above, on 11 January 1941. They were rebuilt by the New River Company in 1947 and 1948 which received government compensation for

720-473: The time of incorporation, the company had over 1,000 customers, and the water provided by the springs was becoming insufficient. In 1620, the company decided to divert water from the nearby River Lea into the New River, although this was not permitted by either the statutes or the company's charter, and caused complaints from bargemen and the public in the area until this arrangement was eventually approved by Parliament in 1738. In 1631, King Charles I , who

750-469: Was closed in 1980, drained in 1982 and in 1996 had some of the embankments removed to comply with the requirements of The Reservoirs Act for redundant reservoirs. However it has retained a residual amount of water, supplemented by rainfall and since 1996 has been managed actively as a nature reserve. It is kept locked and there is no public access except for those holding a valid membership to the nature reserve. Works have been undertaken to protect and improve

780-459: Was laid out by William Chadwell Mylne . It still presents as a set of 73 large townhouses of its original style but many have been internally subdivided. The houses were firstly built by 13 building firms, then that chosen in World War II for 11A and 12A on the south side, plus another commissioned from the London Blitz -related reconstruction of two north-side houses. All are constructed in

810-495: Was opened in 1929. The two triple expansion steam engines were designed and manufactured by Worthington-Simpson . They are thought to have been the second largest such engines in the world. They continued to be used until 1980. They and the building they are in have now become the Kempton Park Steam Engines museum. Kempton Park West Reservoir was closed and emptied completely. Kempton Park East Reservoir

840-504: Was put before Parliament to abolish the project, but before this could be considered, the Blessed Parliament was dissolved, and Parliament was not to productively meet again until 1621. Once Parliament was dissolved, Myddelton obtained permission from the City to extend the works for five more years, although the objections to the project still remained. On 2 May 1612, Myddelton reached an agreement with King James I , where

870-500: Was the architect of the local church, St Mark's . In 1904, the water supply business of the New River Company was taken into public ownership under the provisions of the Metropolis Water Act 1902 , and transferred to the Metropolitan Water Board . A total of £6,000,534 was paid to the shareholders and directors in compensation, which was paid in "water stock", paying a 3% annual dividend. Through municipalization

900-450: Was unhappy with the returns made by the King's share of the company, negotiated an agreement where Myddelton would buy the share back, in return for a lump sum of £500 and an annual payment of £500 in perpetuity. This became known as the Crown Clog. The King's share was divided into 36 parts to match the adventurers' shares, and although the Crown Clog was originally paid by Myddelton personally, it subsequently came to be attached to 29 of

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