The Standard Reservoir Conduit House, Greenwich Park

The Standard Reservoir Conduit House, Greenwich Park

This is a conduit house of late 17th or early 18th-century date, attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor, who served as Clerk of Works at Greenwich from 1698 to 1735. The building was restored in the later 20th century. It is constructed in Classical style from brown brick with red brick dressings laid in Flemish bond, with a 20th-century tiled roof. A surrounding cast iron railed enclosure was installed in the 20th century and is not of special interest.

The structure is rectangular and single storey above ground, built over a vaulted basement reservoir. It has projecting gable ends. The north and south gable ends feature higher projecting gabled walls. The north (entrance) front has a central pedimented gable with a round-headed arched apsed recess below. Stone plaques above the apse, set in a raised panel, are inscribed "Greenwich Hospital Standard Reservoir". The round-headed arched central entrance has stone impost blocks and a 20th-century ledged plank door. Brick piers at the edges of the pediment are followed by ramped-down sections of brick walling ending in further brick piers that are partially chamfered. The sides have lower brick walls with a moulded brick band and circular iron ties. The south end is plainer, with two end piers topped by pyramidal brick caps and two blocked Tudor-arched window openings. The brick walls, particularly the ends, are extensively covered with graffiti of varying dates and styles spanning two centuries from the late 18th century onwards, ranging from carefully cut Roman letters (such as "EDWARD 1770" and "M Pinfold 1775") to less legible 19th and 20th-century examples.

Behind the entrance is a semi-circular niche blocking access into the building. The roof structure was replaced in the later 20th century. The above-ground structure retains iron tie bars and some cast iron pipes. The basement contains a brick vaulted chamber. Adjacent conduits are not included in the listing.

This conduit house was part of a system of at least three underground brick-built tunnels or conduits beneath Greenwich Park, large enough for a person to walk upright through. These were water mains designed to channel natural groundwater from higher ground down to the Royal Hospital for Seamen, now the National Maritime Museum, at Greenwich. The hospital's construction began in 1698 during the reign of King William and Queen Mary, utilising an incomplete building of 1664 originally intended as a palace and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The hospital opened in 1705 but was not fully completed until much later in the century. The surviving conduits were rebuilt at the end of the 17th century, though they may have incorporated earlier medieval or Tudor conduit systems. Lead pipes at the end of the conduit systems carried water to reservoirs such as this one.

During the 18th and 19th centuries the conduit system declined, with several conduits abandoned as early as 1732. An 1831 report recommended improving the hospital's water supply through new reservoirs and replacement of lead pipes with iron. A new reservoir was built in Greenwich Park by Great Cross Avenue in 1845. In 1905 and 1906, Greenwich Borough Council inspected the structures and produced reports. Following this inspection, the Royal Parks authority sealed known entrances to the conduits to prevent unauthorised access. Three conduit heads survive from this system: Hyde Vale, One Tree Hill Conduit Head, and the Standard Reservoir Conduit House, all listed.