Gallows Tamkin

Gallows Tamkin is a tamkin house built in 1538-40 as part of a water supply system for Hampton Court Palace. It has been partly restored in the 20th and early 21st centuries.

The building is a single-storey structure of red brick with a steeply pitched tiled gable roof. The south-facing front elevation features a restored four-centred stone archway with stone block jambs and a slit window above it. The brick walls have been restored.

Internally, the building sits five steps below ground level. The floor is constructed of roof tiles laid on edge. None of the original fixtures remain visible.

Gallows Tamkin was constructed following King Henry VIII's acquisition of Hampton Court Palace, when there was a need for a greater water supply than the existing conduit at Hampton village could provide. After the suppression of Merton Priory in 1538, land was set aside in upper Kingston for a new system. Historical accounts from 1538 to 1545 record charges for "the condyte from Combhill" and a sum of £100 spent on construction.

Water was collected at springs in Coombe, around 5 kilometres to the north-east, in water tanks covered by brick buildings known as conduit houses. Three conduit houses were built: Coombe Conduit, Gallows Conduit, and Ivy Conduit, all of which survive. Water flowed under gravity through underground lead pipes to the Palace. The pipes passed under the rivers Hogsmill and Thames through several tamkin houses—small brick buildings containing stopcocks and expansion tanks that allowed sections of pipe to be isolated for leak detection and repair. Gallows Tamkin is the only tamkin house still standing.

Repair work is recorded in the early 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1742 the Office of Works ordered a survey and undertook a major overhaul to increase efficiency. The system continued to supply Hampton Court until 1876. Gallows Tamkin was incorporated into the grounds of Coombe Wood Golf Course in 1904.