Description

PORTLAND

SY6873 VERNE ROAD, Fortuneswell
969-1/3/129 (North side (off))
Cistern on slopes of The Verne at
NGR SY 6907 7344

II

Water supply cistern with monumental entrance in the hillside.
c 1880. Heavy rusticated rock-faced Portland stone with
drafted edges to blocks. A stone-vaulted chamber c 2.5m x 3.5m
x 3m high entered through a square opening with voussoirs with
drafted edges, part blocked in lower half by concrete block
wall. The approach has raking retaining walls to either side,
following the steep incline of the hill slope. Interior has
low segmental vault, a plinth, and 3 iron tie bars; at each
end are shaped recesses cut into wall, presumably to house
former pumping machinery. This cistern evidently served, inter
alia, a tank slightly lower on the slope, but concealed by
undergrowth and inaccessible at the time of survey (June
1991). Before the supply of piped water to the Island, this
storage cistern and its works would have been an important
installation.

Listing NGR: SY6906973424

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26501505

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6