Cistern On Slopes Of The Verne At Ngr Sy 6907 7344

PORTLAND

SY6873 VERNE ROAD, Fortuneswell 969-1/3/129 (North side (off)) Cistern on slopes of The Verne at NGR SY 6907 7344

II

Water supply cistern with monumental entrance in the hillside. c 1880. Heavy rusticated rock-faced Portland stone with drafted edges to blocks. A stone-vaulted chamber c 2.5m x 3.5m x 3m high entered through a square opening with voussoirs with drafted edges, part blocked in lower half by concrete block wall. The approach has raking retaining walls to either side, following the steep incline of the hill slope. Interior has low segmental vault, a plinth, and 3 iron tie bars; at each end are shaped recesses cut into wall, presumably to house former pumping machinery. This cistern evidently served, inter alia, a tank slightly lower on the slope, but concealed by undergrowth and inaccessible at the time of survey (June 1991). Before the supply of piped water to the Island, this storage cistern and its works would have been an important installation.

Listing NGR: SY6906973424