Open Water Conduits on Coinagehall Street and Almshouse Hill

MATERIALS: granite revetments, some dressed with linear and dimpled finishes to provide grip, some plain. Cut granite, shale or cobbled channel base. Iron grates.

PLAN & FORM: the topography of the town is key to the arrangement of the extensive system, which is fed from the diverted River Cober approximately 2km to the north, and feeds back into it to the south of the town. The majority of the system is below ground; only on the main roads through the centre are the channels exposed.

There is a conduit on either side of Coinagehall Street, between pavement and road, with several pedestrian granite bridges and C20 inserted concrete bridges. The upper(eastern) section, on the south side of the street, has a wider carriageway curb of cut granite, and the base of the channel is also of cut granite; this higher level of finish may reflect the proximity of the Town Hall. The water flows downhill to the west and the northern channel passes beneath a raised pavement and continues north down the eastern side of Almshouse Hill. The conduit in Almshouse Hill, which is crossed by a number of pedestrian and vehicular bridges, lacks the detailing which characterises the kennels of Coinagehall Street.