Nidd Aqueduct

The Bradford Corporation Waterworks Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. cxxxii) gave the City of Bradford powers to dam the River Nidd and its tributary Stone Beck in upper Nidderdale, and to build a conduit that delivered the water by gravity to Chellow Heights in Bradford. As Bradford has no major rivers running through it, the city needed fresh water for drinking and to be able to process wool (fulling). At that time, both Nidderdale and Bradford were in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The first two reservoirs, Hayden Carr and Gouthwaite, were constructed in the early 1890s. Work started at Hayden Carr in 1894 by Morrison and Mason of Edinburgh. In 1893 John Best & Son started at Gouthwaite…

The route of the aqueduct is mostly sub-surface, apart from some small sections that drain water into the aqueduct. It was constructed from 12 mi of cut-and-cover, 15 mi of steel and cast-iron pipes and 6 mi of branch feeder pipes. The route is entirely fed by gravity and the use of syphons. These also pick water up from other becks and streams in Nidderdale that the aqueduct crosses. The aqueduct is over 6 ft high inside and is lined with concrete. The only evidence of the aqueduct is in the various crossing bridges and syphons where the route goes across other bodies of water. Most of the exposed sections of the aqueduct have crenellated walls and towers. The bridge over the River Wharfe…