Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Walton Apps Court

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Walton Apps Court

This post shows sites to the south of the river only. North is Sunbury Rivermead

Post to the east West Molesey
Post to the west Walton Sunbury Lock and Sunbury riverside
Post to the north Sunbury Kempton Park

Hurst Road
Apps Court Farm. Apps Court Farm is now a multipurpose 82 acre park comprising grassland with woods and fishing lakes. There are also many activities such as car boot sales and the like. The farm is the only remaining part of the Apps Court Estate which lay on both sides of Hurst Road and was purchased by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1899.  The main part of the manor now lies under the Bessborough and Knight reservoirs. When the water board bought the site they also bought a duty of customary tenure which had existed since the time of Edward II. This meant that ale and bread had to be given to the poor on All Saints Day. The board intended to ignore this but was eventually forced to transfer annuities to the Charity Commission.
Old tower site – this is shown on maps of the 1890s alongside the water works buildings. There is also said to be the fragment of a Homestead moat.
Reservoirs. On the north side of the road - the four reservoirs to the east (see square to the east) are now out of use for water storage and used for gravel extraction. Two storage reservoirs had been planned by the Southwark and Vauxhall Company when it was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board,
Southwark and Vauxhall Water Co had planned a works here in 1898. This was to include an intake from the River Thames, filter beds and a pumping station near here. The scheme was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board.
Hurst Road Pumping and Filtration Station.  After the Metropolitan Water Board had been set up the existing plans by the various private companies were reviewed and it was decided to concentrate all pumping requirements in one station here. Charles E. Hearson, Chairman of the Works and Stores Committee of the Metropolitan Water Board, laid the foundation stone in 1908. The red brick building was designed by James Restler then Deputy Chief Engineer to the Metropolitan Water Board.  It was opened when the engines were started in 1911 by John Burns, the President of the Local Government Board. There were originally four inverted vertical triple-expansion steam engines by Thames Ironworks Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Each driving a double stage centrifugal pump lifting 114 million litres of water per day. There were 10 boilers by Babcock & Wilcox, Renfrew supplied with coal from a wharf, which remains. . An overhead ropeway ran from the boiler house to the wharf. Water leaving the reservoirs flows by gravity to the filter beds at Hampton.  An extension was built which was opened in 1926 by Neville Chamberlain, Minister of Health updating the engines and allowing for a scheme to pump water to Honor Oak. . In 1964.The steam engines were replaced by electric power. It remains operational though now run by Thames Water since privatisation in 1989. One of the original steam engines remains though it is no longer operational.
Main to Honor Oak . This was laid from 1917 with work undertaken by Mowlem. It was completed in 1925
Intake.  This was built by the Metropolitan Water Board as part of their scheme opened in 1911. It is an open channel 439m long and 6.7m wide, which brings water to the pumping station for distribution to either the Walton Reservoirs or the Island Barn Reservoir
Filter beds. Additional beds were opened in 1950 on the west side of the pumping station
Ring Main Shaft.  The new London water ring main passes under this site at about 45 metres underground. It was a Construction site with an access shaft. The ring main connects to these shafts at a depth of 40m
Walton Advanced Water Treatment Works. This was built on a 45 acre site alongside the existing plant. It was completed in 1995. The site has three blocks to accommodate new treatment techniques and a fourth block houses the washwater treatment process. The buildings and grounds are landscaped as to minimise the visual impact. Walton feeds the Ring Main with about 50 Ml/d of treated water per day. The Water Supply Regulations Act of 1989 was introduced to tackle pesticides which find their way into water sources. Here were developed processes using Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and Ozone. Counter Current- 3 Dissolved Air Floatation and Filtration is unique to Walton and further aids particle removal.
Bessborough – see square to the east
Knight Reservoir. This square covers the north eastern part of the reservoir. It was built by the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company, from 1898 and designed by their engineer, J.W.Restler. The reservoir opened in 1907 with a capacity of 480 gallons. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It was named for Sir Henry Knight Chair of the Southwark and Vauxhall Company.
Coal Tax marker post. This is said to be in the grounds of the Advanced Treatment works


Riverside
Coal post
on the south bank of the Thames 800 yards east of Sunbury Lock

Sources
Apps Court Farm .Web site
Elmbridge Council. Web site
Engineering Time Lines. Web site
Greater London Council. Thames Guidelines,
Industrial Archaeology of Elmbridge
Industrial Archaeology of Surrey
Metropolitan Water Board. London’s Water Supply
Pastscape.Web site
Thames Water. Web site
Walford. Village London

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