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

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
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  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)