Description and History of Site:-
Potable water supply reservoir. The valve wheel houses on the western and eastern banks are (separately) listed Grade II. Curiously, the listing description for that on the western bank has a grid reference pointing to the wrong structure.Until 1887, the town of Wakefield was supplied with water by a private company who took their supply from the river Calder. The river became increasingly unfit for this purpose and frequent attempts were made by the Corporation to buy out the water company. They succeeded in doing so in September of 1877 (for £196,905) and obtained an Act of Parliament enabling them to obtain an alternative source of supply.
Mr. E. Filliter, engineer of Leeds, was engaged and he devised a scheme for bringing to the town 'an ample supply of soft and pure water from the Rishworth Moors' On the first of May 1888 the new supply of water was formally turned on for the use of the inhabitants of Wakefield. The water was conveyed from the gathering ground by a catch-water to the reservoir at Ringstone, which then had an area of about 40 acres, and contained 200 million gallons of water.
Construction of the reservoir began on October 18th 1881, the first sod being turned by Alderman Henry Lee, the then Mayor of the borough, who was also chairman of, the Waterworks Committee. The water was piped down from Ringstone to another large reservoir at Ardsley, near Wakefield.
Further Reading and References:-
'British Architecture', 4th May, 1888.
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Key Words :- water supply reservoir
Address :- Saddleworth Road , Ripponden, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX6 4RA
Grid Ref :- SE 04882 17871
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.657310 , Long -1.927605
Local Authority :- Calderdale Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1277325,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1888 -
Contributor :- Nick Nelson - 13 September 2019
Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson
Grid Ref :- SE 04882 17871
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.657310 , Long -1.927605
Local Authority :- Calderdale Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1277325,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1888 -
Contributor :- Nick Nelson - 13 September 2019
Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson