Water was always a problem in Gillingham with its chalk subsoil. It was necessary to dig deep wells to reach the water table.The wells often ran dry and the water had to be bought in a barrel from a cart. Most of Bromptons Houses had wells but these dried up when Chathams Dockyard Basins were dug. In 1856 "The Brompton and New Brompton and Gillingham Consumers, Waterworks Co. Ltd" was formed and commisioned a well to be sunk below the original Strata. A water supply was found and in 1858 was pumped into a reservoir at the corner of Garden Street and Brompton hill.(Brompton) The site is now a Childrens playground. Water was piped into houses in Brompton and the old village of Gillingham.Later they supplied the local Barracks,Melville Hospital and the convict prison,by 1860 plans were made to supply Chatham. As more and more water was needed water was pumped into reservoirs in Star Mill Lane from the huge reserves in the Luton Valley. In 1862 while building one of these reservoirs one of it's walls collapsed and water flooded down Canterbury Street.

Today the Water Supply comes from Local sources supplemented by a reservoir at Bewl bridge. Water is chlorinated,aerated (air added into it),filtered and the hardness is reduced my mixing in soft surface water from Greensand wells.

I believe these reservoirs stored and supplied water to Chatham Dockyard. They were built into some of the old Napoleanic dry ditches of the Cumberland lines near Fort Amherst.The Spur Battery reservoir is all in an original ditch that has been lined to hold the water.The Couvre port reservoirs has a cross wall and a retaining wall added. Also earth has been removed from the middle of the main reservoir. The reservoirs were emptied and closed in the 1980's and have remained empty ever since.

 

The smaller of the two Couvre Porte reservoirs.

 

The bigger Couvre porte reservoir seen from the cross wall.

 

A platform above one of the pipes with a valve on the left to release water into one of the reservoirs.

 

 

Inside the bigger reservoir,looking towards the pedestrian bridge.

 

Another view of the bigger Couvre Porte reservoir that could hold 19,477 Tons of water.

 

A Water Outlet,there would have been filters in the frames originaly. On the right is an overflow pipe.

 

Pipes in the reservoir.

 

The trickly rainwater that's coming out of this pipe is from the Spur Battery reservoir outlet.

 

The sloping end wall of the Couvre port reservoir,with a broken water gauge.

Water gauge (Up the right way)

 

Somewhere in this greenery is the Spur Battery reservoir,it could hold 5,400 Tons of water.

 

Pipe on the cross wall with the Valve House at the end.

 

The Valve House from the other side.

Please note: The reservoirs are private property and parts of them are very dangerous

 

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