Conduit Head Adjacent To The Former Trustee Savings Bank

This is a water conduit head dating from circa 1900, located within a niche in the south wall of the former Trustee Savings Bank on East Castle Street. The structure is made of cast iron and has a circular upright. It features a fat, fluted column with three lion heads near the top, a domed top with gadrooning, and a foliate finial. A tap, shaped like a dolly peg, is positioned on the right-hand side. Water was dispensed via a spout in the lion’s mouth facing forward.

Bridgnorth has a long history of providing piped municipal water, beginning in the 14th century when friars constructed a wooden pipe system to bring spring water to their area. An unfiltered water pumping system was introduced in the 18th century, drawing water from the River Severn to a cistern on Castle Hill. Alongside this, spring water was accessible free of charge via conduits throughout the town. By 1829, an underground reservoir was constructed on the High Street. A cholera outbreak in 1849 prompted a review of the water provision, leading to an improved system in 1853 drawing filtered water from the River Severn. In 1857, a larger water abstraction works and sand filter beds were opened, supplying water by gravity to the town, a system utilized until the 1970s. Conduit heads date from several periods: circa 1871, circa 1900, the 1920s, and the 1930s.

The conduit head is designated at Grade II for being a well-cast and highly decorative example of a street conduit head, surviving unaltered. It represents the public provision of a safe and comprehensive municipal water supply, and contributes to the group value of the surrounding listed buildings on East Castle Street.