New River Head, Clerkenwell

The New River supplied Regency London with much of its water. The river had its origins in springs near Ware in Hertfordshire, from where it was carried in an artificial channel parallel and near to the River Lea and entered Middlesex not far from Waltham Cross. The engraving above is of the small round pond where the waters of the springs collected before gliding down toward London. From the New River Head in Clerkenwell, wooden pipes carried the water to London, although from 1811 the wooden pipes gradually replaced the cast iron pipes.