Did you know there is a tunnel running deep under Trafalgar Square? Nope, neither did I as it happens!

I had been told that the fountains in Trafalgar Sq were fed by ground water, but like many of the things we are told as kids, we might not think as adults to check if they are correct until maybe prompted by a pub quiz or the like.

I was not prompted by a pub quiz this time, but by trawling through my recent deliveries of the Illustrated London News, of 1845 – and yes, indeed the fountains are, or more correctly – WERE, powered by water taken direct from the ground.

The whole system was replaced in the 1930s with mains supply water as the artesian wells never really lived up the hype when first switched on. The two original red granite fountains were replaced with the pale grey stone basins at the same time – and the originals are now in Canada.

Anyhow, back to the tunnels – two deep shafts were drilled down to the water table – one in Trafalgar Square itself, and one behind the National Gallery – and then linked up deep underground by a fairly sizeable 6 feet wide tunnel. Although a “mere” water tank, the length and size of the structure is quite impressive.

Considering that this deep-level tunnel “tube tunnel” was constructed some 40 years before the first tube train tunnel, this is a quite incredible feat of engineering.

Below is a transcript of the news item from the Illustrated London News, as usual click on the images for larger versions.

THE FOUNTAINS IN TRAFALGAR-SQUARE

On Tuesday morning last at seven o’clock, Mr. Barry, the architect, attended by the engineers of the above works, and other scientific gentlemen, with a few members of the Government, met in Trafalgar-square, to witness the playing of the fountains, at various heights, and to inspect the engines connected therewith. The experiments were perfectly satisfactory; and it was then decided that the jets should commence playing at noon on Saturday (this day). The present is, therefore, the best opportunity for introducing to our readers the details of this truly scientific embellishment of our metropolis, which has so long exercised the curiosity of the public, as well as the good humour of those accustomed to cater for their gratification, literary and otherwise.

The disposition of the beautiful area of Trafalgar-square, unquestionably one of the finest sites in the metropolis, will be best understood by the large engraving below; and we proceed to the details requisite to the entire appreciation of the fidelity and minuteness of the accompanying illustrations, merely premising that a twofold object has been attained in this improvement – the embellishment of the Square and the more useful object of a better supply of water to certain of the Government establishments.

THE ARTESIAN WELLS

The wells for supplying the water to the Fountains and Government offices, are sunk on the principle of those generally termed Artesian. These are perpendicular borings into the earth, through the impervious to the porous strata, though which the water has percolated, and accumulated in large quantities. The shaft being made, the imprisoned water, in its endeavor to find its own level, rises through the strata to the surface of the soil, producing a continuous flow or stream of pure water. This effect would have been produced in these we are describing, and in all others similarly formed, were it not from the number of other wells which have been sunk for the various breweries, manufactories, and general consumption of London, having so greatly reduced the quantity, that the remaining water is not capable, through its slowness of percolation, of rising higher than to about a hundred feet below the surface, thus rendering it necessary to use force to raise it to the required height.

The water for the Artesian Wells of the metropolis is derived from the rains which fall in the central valley of Holmsdale – a district of about ten miles extent, running to the east and west of Reigate, in Surrey. This valley is formed to the north by the great chalk range, and to the south, and along its whole width, by sand hills, which rise form beneath the chalk strata. These sands absorb the rain-water, but are prevented from parting with it by the stiff clays of the weald upon which they rest. The water thus obtained runs beneath the bed of the chalk, is partially absorbed by its lower surface, and forms, on reaching the site of London, a grand reservoir, at a depth of upwards of 250 feet beneath the valley of the Thames.

At the back of Trafalgar-square there are two wells, one in Orange-street, and the other in front of the National Gallery. The bores of these wells, to the depth of 175 feet, are, the former 6 feet, and the latter, 4 feet 6 inches in diameter these are connected together at the depth of 170 feet, by a tunnel, 880 feet long and 6 feet in diameter, and capable of containing about 70,000 gallons of water. Below this bore, at the Orange-street well, is a smaller one, to the depth of about 300 feet, whilst that in front of the National gallery is 395 feet deep. The strata through which the operation of boring has passed will be seen in the accompanying sections.

THE PUMPING ENGINES

The machinery for working the wells, for throwing the jet, and for the supply of the various offices, consists of two engines – a large Cornish one, and a smaller inverted direct-action engine. The larger one is for all the general purposes of supply, as well for the fountains as consumption, and has attached to its beam three rods, working as many pumps. The rod A is attached to a pump, which raises the water from the wells for the supply of the public offices, &c. The connecting rod B is attached to a pump capable of lifting from 500 to 800 gallons of water per minute, into a large tank or reservoir for playing the fountains.

The smaller engine, C, is built on the direct-action principle, working with the cylinder inverted and leaving the piston rod immediately attacked to the pump rods. It is extremely simple in its construction, but remarkably effective in its action. Its operations are confirmed to the changing of the water for the fountains, but its principle use is, as a reserve engine, for supplying the public buildings with the necessary quantity of water, in the event of the larger one being out of repair. The two engines are worked by two boilers, fitter with Jucke’s patent smoke-consuming furnaces, by which means such works are enabled to be carried on in the centre of the metropolis without subjecting the inhabitants to the annoyance of smoke.

The wells and tunnel, when at rest will hold about 122,000 gallons of water; and some idea may be formed of the supply of the liquid from the fact that 300 gallons per minute raised for thirty hours in succession, lowered the water in the wells only 50 feet; thus leaving an amount of water stil in reserve of upwards of 91,000 gallons. The water is of an excellent quality, soft and pure; the Reform Club and Club Chambers have been supplied by the same source, and its goodness and purity have been highly commended.

THE FOUNTAINS

The fountains are from the designs of Mr. Barry, and are executed of Aberdeen or Peterhead granite, by Messrs. Macdonald and Leslie, of Aberdeen. The granite is peculiar for the redness of its colour, as well as from it hardness and durability, and is capable of receiving a very high polish. These qualities are owing to the almost total absence of mica in the composition of the granite – quartz and feltspar being its chief constituents, and the latter, in proportions which rival the rich flesh-coloured granites of Egypt.

The design is simple, but chaste and elegant. A massive curved octagonal base, upon which are four dolphins’ heads and fins, supports a magnificent flat vase, from the centre of which rises a pedestal supporting a smaller, but similar vase, and in its center is places the granite mouth for the jet. From this mouth the water is thrown up in a close stream to the desired height, when it spreads out and descends into the upper vase, from thence to the lower one, and so falls into the basin; at the same time, a flat stream issues from the mouths of each of the dolphins. The quantity thrown up by the two fountains will be 500 gallons per minute; but, when requisite, 800 or 1000 gallons can be thrown up with equal ease, in the same space of time.

The basins as the bottom add greatly to the beauty of the fountains; and it has been arranged that they shall at all times be kept brim full of transparent water.

The effect of the entire square is magnificent; but it is not such an one as woos the pedestrian to repose, or the idler to lounge. In summer, “the sun smites by day, and the cold by night;” and in winter, the biting winds make it equally intolerable. On the Continent, were a Place Grand is constantly a Place Vert, these fearful inconveniences would have been remedied by groves of trees; and we may add, that not only would the public have been benefited, but the effect of the architecture itself would have been assisted by such an arrangement in the vast promenade of Trafalgar-square.

The contract for “spouting water” is ten hours a day om the average – that is, in the summer the fountains are to play thirteen hours per day, and in the winter seven hours. The height to which the water is to be thrown will vary, according to the weather, from 25 feet to 40 feet from the ground.

The mode of procuring the water, its quantity, distribution, &c., as well as the engines and all the other apparatus connected with this undertaking, are the work of Messrs. Easton and Amos, of the Grove, Southwark, on whom the whole management reflects the highest credit. We understand that the entire cost of sinking the wells, &c., the engines, pipes, and all attendant machinery and expenses, is somewhat under £10,000, exclusive of the granite fountains; and for this, the permanent means of supplying the whole of the Government offices from Charing-cross to the new Houses of Parliament, inclusive, is insured, as well as the necessary consumption for the watering of the streets, &c.

The saving which Government will effect by this mode forms no inconsiderable item in its advantages, for the present contract for furnishing the requisite quantity of water being £500 per annum, and the sum hitherto paid to the water companies double that amount.

As a bit of a fan of tunnels under London, I am often asked about the oft-rumoured tube tunnel that allegedly links Buckingham Palace to, depending on the rumour, Downing Street or Green Park.

It is claimed that the tube was built so that the Royal Family can escape in times of war or insurrection.

Sadly, the rumours are utterly unfounded.

There are indeed some tunnels under London that are pseudo-secret, but they can be inferred from sealed files in the National Archives or provable tales from the people who built them in the first place.

However, Annie Mole carried a report about The Queen visiting Aldgate station yesterday to unveil a memorial plaque for the July 7th bombings. Her Majesty was also photographed standing next to a specially mocked up tube station sign that read “Buckingham Palace”.

I give it all of about 15 minutes before that photo is cited by tin-foil wearing brigade as PROOF that there is a secret tube station at Buckingham Palace.

If you want to read about the real “secret tunnel” under Whitehall – click here.

Update: In the time it took me to type this (inc coffee breaks), someone has already questioned the existence of a tube tunnel under Buckingham Palace on Annie Mole’s photo!

Lurking not too far from where I live is a subterranean marvel that is considered to be one of the most important locations in engineering history. I am referring to the currently closed off East London Line railway – for the tunnel it runs through under the Thames is world’s first (successful) sub-aqueous tunnel.

Not too far from the Rotherhithe tunnel is the Brunel Museum situated within an old pumping station, but conveniently next to the original deep shaft that Marc Brunel (father of more famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel) sunk into the clay soil to get down to the depth where the tunnel would stretch out under the river.

I won’t relate the torturous history of the tunnel itself – as that is amply told elsewhere, for my visit to was not to the tunnel but to the remains of that original shaft.

I arrived at at the museum just as a lot of people were filing out to go to the shaft, so I ahem, joined the crowd. I’ve been in the museum before as they used to run tours of the two key stations, Rotherhithe and Wapping and take a slow train between them.

As part of the refurbishment of the tunnels for the overland railway, the shaft, which has always been empty from surface to deep underground has had a slab of concrete installed and the upper space will be handed over to the museum to clean up and turn into an extension. As the slab was finished off only a few weeks ago – the opportunity here was to see the interior of the shaft before it is cleaned up again.

Getting in for visitors will be down a replica of the original stair case that lined the tunnel when it was open to pedestrians – but our access was through a tiny door that you quite literally had to crawl through and then down some scaffolding to the floor, which is about 3 stories below its roofline (and about 2 stories below ground).

Here lots of photos were taken and a volunteer gave us a brief run through why the shaft is so important in engineering history and some details of its construction.

In essence, they had a huge metal ring, upon which they started building a high wall. As the wall got heavier, it started sinking into the soft soil – aided by workers inside digging out that soil. More bricks added, and the shaft continues to sink into the ground. At one point it got stuck and even adding 50,000 bricks to the top of the shaft wouldn’t unstick the gigantic pipe.

Here there seems to be two variants of the solution – in essence, water leaking into the shaft normally lubricated the sides and one weekend the whole thing dropped down several metres. Whether this was an accidental switching off of the water pumps over a weekend that had a fortuitous outcome, or a deliberate decision seems to vary depending on who is telling the tale.

The shaft finally at its required depth, the tunnel under the river could be cut out. A similar shaft on the north side was also built – although two more shaft, four times wider to allow horses down to the tunnel never got built as some idiot stuck a bridge at Tower Hill and ruined the finances of the tunnel.

Talk over and a climb back out through the tiny exit, and that was it. A short visit, but this subterranean geek was bouncing with delight to have been able to have a look around.

I took a quick look around the museum and picked up a guide book that I would have brought last time I was there, only they couldn’t take cards and I was out of cash on the day. I also had a long chat with one of the staff about the pneumatic railway I am researching and he mentioned something about its precursor at Crystal Palace I wasn’t aware of. More research needed. Yay!

It was a shame we couldn’t go down to the original tunnels – but I have done a slow train tour through there before courtesy of the museum.

A slight rant – they let people into the shaft through a really tiny doorway – and yet other underground structures with significantly easier access points refuse to open up for the public visits due to “health & safety” concerns. That really annoys me as it quite evidently isn’t a problem.

As usual – more photos over at Flickr.

This is probably more the remit of The Greenwich Phantom, but as part of the Greenwich foot tunnel lies on MY side of the river, and this concerns a particular bugbear of mine, I shall talk about it.

The tunnel, for those who are not familiar with it is a 100 year old tunnel under the river linking Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs, and has lifts/stairs at each end.

I rarely take the lift down on the north side, as that seems a bit lazy, but occasionally I treat myself – and a while ago noticed in passing that a Health and Safety notice in the lift had been amended to state that photography was banned in the tunnel.

Thinking about it, I was sure there was a ban on flash photography, but now it seems to have been recently changed to a complete ban on all photography. Today though, the southern lift on the Greenwich side was actually working for once – although the operator in the lift was on the phone to someone and it seemed it was about to be turned off again.

Inside was a large, newish looking sign warning that photography is banned – but the health & safety sign was still unedited, and my suspicions were proved correct. The original sign only banned flash photography!

For some reason, over the past few months someone has decided that an existing (if dubious) ban on flash photography for health and safety reasons has to be expanded to a complete ban on all photography in the tunnel.

I’ve always been curious about the ban on flash photography as this is just a foot tunnel and hardly likely to cause anything more serious than a bit of annoyance to fellow walkers – and a lot less annoyance than screaming kids – but a total ban on all photography?

I use the tunnel a lot, and people are always taking photos down there without people dying or getting injured. An artist at the local market even sells rather somewhat arty photos of the tunnel.

What dire calamity has befallen the tunnel in the past few months that caused the H&S nazis to immediately clamp down on photography in the tunnel to prevent repeat of this mystery disaster?

The infamous (amongst tunnel/military aficionados) tunnels under Chancery Lane are to be put up for sale at last. I have been aware that BT were working on decommissioning them for some time, and was trying to find out who was handling the sale – only for them to put out a press release about the sale today.

I have a serious business idea for the tunnels – which do not (alas) involve turning them into a tourist attraction – but the current economic turmoil in the city makes that less viable, but not totally silly. Most of the deep level tunnels which were emptied out have been converted into secure document storage facilities, but my business plan was a bit more techie.

Anyhow – now that the tunnels have been cleared out of the secret stuff we can’t see, such as the claimed section occupied by the security services for a while, it will be interesting to see if BT let people go down for public tours during the disposal process.

Weblinks:

BT press release

Sub Brit report