Site Event/Activity record ECH6186 - Backford Hall Water tank / Level 2/3 Historic Building Recording

The water tank was apparently built as a single, original (c.1863) phase. There is no evidence for repair/extension etc. It was a purpose-built functional structure. The subterranean water tank harvested rain water. A larger holding tank was fed via a small opening in the southern elevation, from a smaller and less deep chamber fed directly via drain pipes from the roof of the hall. It is likely that this chamber acted as a silt/leaf trap for the water coming directly into the tank from the hall’s roof. This chamber had a much higher floor and would have been safer to gain egress to and empty. It appears from the photos provided that there was no ‘lip’ top catch silts, but presumably the narrow void between the chamber and the main tank would have served to catch most of the sediment. It is unlikely the water in the tank beneath the car park was used for drinking water, and the only contemporary parallel, an underground cistern in Market Square, Crewe, Cheshire East (see Appendix B) has been interpreted as for use in case of fire or street cleaning. Construction methods used at Crewe (also dating to the mid nineteenth century) were seemingly identical to those at Backford, other than the buttresses at either end of the side-wall supporting arched dividing walls. It is very likely that both tanks were constructed by the same gang / to the same plans. The tank would likely have been accessed by bucket or pump via an opening from the ground surface. (In addition, it is understood that that roof drainage from the rear of the hall drains to a pond and that an old shed near the lake, erected in 1946, accommodated a pump in case of fire (Cheshire Gardens Trust, 2011)). Given the experiences encountered during building of the 1853 iteration of the hall, these insurance policies are understandable. It is not documented whether the water tank was ever called upon for putting out a subsequent fire. It is also possible that the water tank was installed to provide a ready supply of irrigation water for the extensive designed grounds. The water tank was collapsed and infilled in 2015.